LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

STEWART  S.  HOWE 

JOURNALISM  CLASS  OF  1928 

STEWART  S.  HOWE  FOUNDATION 


920.7 

M13w 


I.H.S. 


The  Women  of  Illinois 


By 
HENRY  McCORMICK 


BLOOMINGTON,  ILLINOIS 

Pantagraph  Printing  and  Stationery  Company 

1913 


Copyright   1913 
By  HENRY  McCORMICK 


°[  2-0.7  XU. 


Lo,  what  gentillesse  these  women  have, 
If  we  coude  know  it  for  our  rudenesse! 
How  busie  they  be  us  to  keep  and  save, 
Both  in  hele,  and  also  in  silkenesse! 
And  alway  right  sorrie  for  our  distresse, 
In  every  manner. 

— Chaucer. 


THE  CONTENTS 


Page 

The  Pioneer  Women  of  Illinois  -          9 

Mrs.  Le  Compt             -           -  -        15 

Mrs.  John  Edgar       -  17 

Mrs.  Robert  Morrison    -           -  19 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke  -             23 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore          -  -        39 

Frances  E.  Willard  55 

Jane  Addams     -                        -  79 

Mrs.  Lida  Brown  McMurry  -            103 

Mrs.  Letitia  Green  Stevenson  -       111 

Marie  Eugenia  Von  Eisner  [Litta]  125 

The  Women  of  Today            -  143 


The  Women  of  Illinois 

CHAPTER  ONE 

THE  PIONEER  WOMEN 

TV/fUCH  has  been  said,  and  justly  so,  in 
•*-*-**  praise  of  the  men  of  Illinois.  They 
have  played  an  hcmorable  Dart^in  the  halls, at 


in  lattyu&idMia  medicine.  Lincoln,  Douglas, 
Grant,  Logan,  Bissell,  Palmer,  Fuller,  Senn, 
Medili;  and  a  host  of  others  whose  names  can 
not  be  mentioned  here,  constitute  a  list  of 
whom  any  state  may  justly  be  proud.  Arid 
it  is  well  to  be  proud  of  them.  A  people  who 
are  not  proud  of  their  great  men  are  not 
worthy  of  them.  It  is  said  that  pride  goes 
before  a  fall ;  it  is  just  as  certain  that  lack  of 
pride  leads  to  the  fall  of  the  individual  and  of 
the  state.  Sad,  indeed,  is  the  fate  of  th«  na- 
tion Avhose  people  are  indifferent  to  the  merits 
of  their  great  men;  it  is  traveling  on  a  road 
that  leads  to  such  a  state  of  decadence  that 


"Woman"  must  erer  be  a  uwman's  name 

!>jnors  more  than  "Lady,"  if  I  know  right. 

— Voge\we\de 


The  Women  of  Illinois 


CHAPTER  ONE 

THE   PIONEER   WOMEN 

TV/TUCH  has  been  said,  and  justly  so,  in 
•*•*-*•  praise  of  the  men  of  Illinois.  They 
have  played  an  honorable  part  in  the  halls  of 
legislation,  on  the  field  of  battle,  in  literature, 
in  law,  and  in  medicine.  Lincoln,  Douglas, 
Grant,  Logan,  Bissell,  Palmer,  Fuller,  Senn, 
Medill,  and  a  host  of  others  whose  names  can 
not  be  mentioned  here,  constitute  a  list  of 
whom  any  state  may  justly  be  proud.  And 
it  is  well  to  be  proud  of  them.  A  people  who 
are  not  proud  of  their  great  men  are  not 
worthy  of  them.  It  is  said  that  pride  goes 
before  a  fall ;  it  is  just  as  certain  that  lack  of 
pride  leads  to  the  fall  of  the  individual  and  of 
the  state.  Sad,  indeed,  is  the  fate  of  the  na- 
tion whose  people  are  indifferent  to  the  merits 
of  their  great  men;  it  is  traveling  on  a  road 
that  leads  to  such  a  state  of  decadence  that 


10  The  Women  of  Illinois 

mediocrity,  even,  will  seem  an  unattainable 
height. 

There  is  one  class  of  our  people,  however, 
to  whom  neither  the  essayist  nor  the  historian 
has  done  justice,  the  women  of  Illinois.  Yet 
they  were  well-worthy  to  walk  by  the  side  of 
their  fathers,  brothers,  and  husbands.  And  it 
is  no  more  than  just  that  this  fact  should  be 
made  known  to  their  descendants. 

The  hardy  pioneer,  whose  main  dependence 
was  upon  his  ax  and  rifle,  fills  an  important 
chapter  in  the  history  of  our  great  state.  He 
felled  forests,  where  there  were  any  to  be 
felled,  built  bridges  and  mills,  established 
schools  and  churches,  and  waged  a  persistent 
and  successful  warfare  against  wild  beasts  and 
the  still  more  savage  red  man.  But  what  of 
his  wife  who  kissed  him  goodbye  in  the  morn- 
ing as  he  went  to  his  work,  not  knowing  that 
she  would  ever  see  him  again  alive?  Or  what 
must  have  been  her  feelings  when  he  took  his 
grist  to  the  mill  twenty  or  thirty  miles  away 
and  would  not  return  until  the  next  day,  if  at 
all?  Imagine,  if  you  can,  her  state  of  mind 
as  the  wolves  were  howling  around  the  cabin 
at  night  and  the  children  were  crying  for 
bread,  it  might  be,  while  she  feared  that  every 
noise  which  she  did  not  understand  might  be 


The  Pioneer  Women  H 

due  to  the  stealthy  approach  of  the  Indians. 
How  glad  she  was  when  daylight  came,  and 
how  often  she  looked  down  the  trail  to  see  if 
her  natural  protector  was  in  sight;  and  when 
he  arrived,  with  what  rapture  did  they  greet 
each  other. 

The  home  was  a  humble  one,  consisting 
usually  of  one  room  with  a  loft,  and  a  hole  un- 
der the  middle  of  the  room  for  a  cellar.  The 
floor  was  of  puncheons,  or  very  rough  boards. 
There  was  no  carpet  on  the  floor,  no  pictures 
on  the  walls,  and  the  furniture,  in  most  part, 
was  made  by  means  of  the  ax  and  auger. 

In  this  unpretentious  home  she  cared  for 
her  family  without  any  assistance  from 
mothers'  clubs,  child-study  clubs,  or  kinder- 
gartners.  She  had  to  get  along  without  many 
of  the  conveniences  which  modern  housekeep- 
ers regard  as  indispensable.  She  had  no  stove, 
gas  range,  or  fireless  cooker,  but  had  to  do  her 
cooking  over  the  open  fireplace,  often  without 
a  "crane,"  and  her  baking  in  the  "Dutch 
oven,"  if  she  was  fortunate  enough  to  have 
one. 

She  had  no  Ivory  or  Pears'  soap,  but  had  to 
leach  the  ashes  and  make  her  own  soap/  as  she 
did  her  starch.  She  had  no  washing-machine 
or  clothes-wringer,  no  vacuum  cleaner  or  car- 


12  The  Women  of  Illinois 

pet  sweeper,  no  fly  screens,  no  yeast  cakes,  no 
baking  powder,  and  no  canned  fruit. 

In  addition  to  being  the  housekeeper,  she 
was  also  the  manufacturer  for  the  household. 
She  spun  the  wool,  dyed  the  yarn,  wove  it, 
fulled  the  cloth,  and  made  it  into  garments  for 
the  family.  She  scutched  the  flax,  hatcheled 
it,  spun  it  and  wove  it  into  wearing  apparel  and 
bed  linen,  and  later  into  table  linen. 

To  her  many  other  duties  the  pioneer 
woman  added  that  of  physician.  It  was  well 
that  she  did  so,  for  regular  doctors  were  few 
in  those  days  and  sometimes  difficult  to  reach, 
especially  for  the  isolated  pioneer  families. 
And  were  it  not  for  the  beneficent  ministra- 
tions of  the  wife  and  mother  the  diseases 
peculiar  to  the  new  country  would  have  caused 
even  more  suffering  than  they  did.  Her  sup- 
ply of  calomel  and  quinine  was  limited,  it  is 
true,  but  the  woods  were  her  dispensary  and 
they  furnished  a  bountiful  supply  of  sage, 
sassafras,  catnip,  liverwort,  tansy,  lobelia, 
boneset,  etc.  If  the  malady  did  not  yield  to 
any,  or  all  of  these  remedies,  the  corn-sweat 
was  resorted  to,  and  if  this  did  not  prove  effi- 
cacious, the  patient's  friends  regarded  his  re- 
covery as  hopeless. 

To  us  it  may  seem  wonderful  that  the  pa- 


The  Pioneer  Women  13 

tient  could  live  through  such  a  course  of  treat- 
ment, for  we  should  be  inclined  to  think  that 
to  be  compelled  to  drink  a  decoction  made 
from  any  of  these  weeds  was  enough  to  make 
a  healthy  person  sick  instead  of  making  well 
a  sick  person.  Nevertheless  many  did  get  well, 
many  were  saved  from  having  a  long  spell  of 
sickness  by  taking  their  mother's  remedies  as 
a  preventive,  and  many,  perhaps,  were  kept 
well  by  the  dread  of  having  to  submit  to  the 
treatment  if  they  became  sick.  So  that  on 
the  whole  the  good  housewife  was  encouraged 
to  add  to  her  pharmacopoeia  whenever  she 
heard  of  a  cure  wrought  by  some  remedy  that 
she  did  not  have  in  stock. 


CHAPTER  TWO 

MRS,    LE  COMPT 

MANY  of  the  women  of  early  Illinois,  be- 
sides being  excellent  housekeepers  and 
physicians  extraordinary,  were  watchful  stu- 
dents of  affairs,  especially  of  the  relations 
of  the  whites  and  Indians,  and  their  ef- 
forts were  always  directed  towards  making 
those  r*$fopl^^ 

The  moftt^Wtypeal  i&ttaM*pp*HWJm 
worn£atiK3£-Mrs.  LeCompt,  who  may  justly  be 
termed  the  "Frontier  Angel." 

Mrs.  LeCompt  was  born  of  French  parents, 
near  what  is  now  the  town  of  St.  Joseph,  in 
Michigan.  Her  girlhood  was  spent  among  the 
Pottawattomie  Indians.  She  moved  to  Mack- 
inaw where  she  was  married,  and  then  with 
her  husband  moved  to  Chicago,  and  later  to 
Cahokia.  All  through  life  she  had  the  Indians 
for  neighbors.  She  learned  the  dialects  of 
many  of  the  tribes,  and  so  was  able  to  gain 
an  insight  into  their  character  and  acquire  an 
influence  over  them,  which  several  times  saved 


II' hat  win  not  woman,  gentle  woman  dare, 
II 'hen  strong  affection  stirs  her  spirit  up? 

—Southey 


CHAPTER  TWO 

MRS.    LE  COMPT 

MANY  of  the  women  of  early  Illinois,  be- 
sides being  excellent  housekeepers  and 
physicians  extraordinary,  were  watchful  stu- 
dents of  affairs,  especially  of  the  relations 
of  the  whites  and  Indians,  and  their  ef- 
forts were  always  directed  towards  making 
those  relations  more  peaceful,  more  humane. 
The  most  prominent  of  those  peace-making 
women  was  Mrs.  LeCompt,  who  may  justly  be 
termed  the  "Frontier  Angel." 

Mrs.  LeCompt  was  born  of  French  parents, 
near  what  is  now  the  town  of  St.  Joseph,  in 
Michigan.  Her  girlhood  was  spent  among  the 
Pottawattomie  Indians,  She  moved  to  Mack- 
inaw where  she  was  married,  and  then  with 
her  husband  moved  to  Chicago,  and  later  to 
Cahokia.  All  through  life  she  had  the  Indians 
for  neighbors.  She  learned  the  dialects  of 
many  of  the  tribes,  and  so  was  able  to  gain 
an  insight  into  their  character  and  acquire  an 
influence  over  them,  which  several  times  saved 


16  The  Women  of  Illinois 

the  feeble   French  settlements   from  destruc- 
tion. 

When  George  Rogers  Clark  conquered  the 
Illinois  country  from  the  English,  the  French 
inhabitants  sided  with  the  Americans  and 
aided  them  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  This 
angered  the  English,  and  they  incited  the  In- 
dians to  attack  their  former  friends.  Many  a 
meditated  attack  upon  Cahokia  were  frustrated 
by  Mrs.  LeCompt.  So  great  was  the  friend- 
ship of  the  Indians  for  her  that  they  could  not 
bear  to  have  her  in  the  village  when  it  should 
be  attacked,  for  fear  she  would  be  injured, 
and  so  informed  her  of  the  time  of  the  in- 
tended onslaught.  On  such  occasions  she 
would  go  alone  to  the  camp  of  the  hostiles, 
and  plead  with  them  to  refrain  from  carrying 
out  their  evil  intentions.  At  times  she  would 
remain  among  them  for  days  pleading  for  the 
sparing  of  her  village,  and  counseling  peace; 
and  her  efforts  were  always  successful.  It 
was  no  uncommon  sight  on  such  occasions  to 
see  this  remarkable  woman  leading  a  band  of 
warriors  to  the  village,  changed  from  foes  to 
friends,  with  their  faces  painted  black  to  in- 
dicate their  sorrow  for  ever  having  intended 
to  massacre  their  dear  friends. 

Mrs.  LeCompt  was  married  three  times,  re- 


Mrs.  John  Edgar  17 

tained  the  name  of  her  second  husband,  and 
died  at  Cahokia  in  1843,  at  the -ripe  age  of 
109  years. 

MRS.  JOHN  EDGAR 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
women  of  early  Illinois,  although  good  house- 
keepers and  brave  in  facing  the  trying  circum- 
stances by  which  they  were  often  surrounded, 
were  rude  in  manners  and  lacking  in  the  cul- 
ture and  refinement  which  are  usually  found 
in  older  communities.  This  was  true,  no  doubt, 
of  the  majority  but  not  of  all.  In  the  last 
decade  of  the  i8th  century  Kaskaskia  was  the 
home  of  many  people  of  refined  and  polished 
manners.  Among  these  was  Mrs,  John  Ed- 
gar, who  presided  with  dignity  and  grace  over 
her  husband's  splendid  mansion,  the  abode  of 
hospitality  and  a  resort  of  the  elite  for  nearly 
half  a  century.  "It  was  in  the  spacious  and 
elegantly  furnished  rooms  of  this  house  that 
LaFayette,  on  his  visit  to  Illinois  in  1825,  was 
sumptuously  entertained  by  a  banquet  and 
ball."1 

Mrs.  Edgar  was  famous  not  only  as  a  social 
leader,  but  her  name  merits  high  praise  as  a 
Revolutionary  heroine  as  well.  By  birth,  edu- 

^avidson  and  Stuv6:  History  of  Illinois,  page  229. 


18  The  Women  of  Illinois 

cation  and  sympathy  she  was  American,  but 
her  husband  was  an  officer  in  the  British  navy, 
fighting  against  the  colonies  in  their  struggle 
for  liberty.  By  her  gracious  manner,  shrewd- 
ness, and  patriotic  devotion  to  her  country,  she 
won  over  her  husband  to  the  American  cause, 
being  aided,  possibly,  by  his  disgust  at  the 
conduct  of  the  British  in  inciting  the  Indians 
to  massacre  white  women  and  children.  Not 
only  so  but  she  was  the  projector  of  many 
plans  by  which  soldiers  in  the  British  army 
were  induced  to  desert  and  join  the  ranks  of 
the  patriots.  She  had  upon  one  occasion  ar- 
ranged a  plan  for  the  escape  of  three  soldiers 
and  was  to  furnish  them  with  guns,  American 
uniforms,  and  all  needed  information  to 
enable  them  to  reach  the  patriot  camp.  When 
they  came  she  was  absent  from  home,  but  her 
husband,  a  confidant  of  all  her  operations, 
notwithstanding  his  position  in  the  enemy's 
navy,  supplied  them  with  the  outfit  prepared 
by  his  wife.  But  the  deserters  were  caught, 
returned  to  the  British  camp,  and  compelled 
to  divulge  the  names  of  their  abettors.  Mr. 
Edgar  was  arrested  and  sent  in  irons  to  Que- 
bec. He  managed  to  escape  and  joined  the 
American  army,  where  he  gained  the  friend- 
ship of  Lafayette  and  other  leading  officers. 


Mrs.  Robert  Morrison  19 

Deeming  it  safer  for  his  life  to  seek  greater 
seclusion,  he  came  to  Kaskaskia.  His  prop- 
erty at  Detroit  was  confiscated;  but  the  rare 
sagacity  of  his  patriotic  and  devoted  wife,  who 
remained  in  that  city,  enabled  her  to  save 
$12,000  from  the  wreck;  with  this  she  joined 
her  husband  in  his  western  home. 

The  Edgars  were  for  many  years  the 
wealthiest  family  in  Illinois.  This  wealth  was 
secured  by  the  making  and  sale  of  salt,  the 
making  of  flour,  and  fortunate  speculations  in 
land.  Mr.  Edgar  was  chief  justice  of  Illinois, 
under  the  Northwest  Territory  in  1790,  and 
later  became  a  general  in  the  militia.  These 
positions  gave  the  family  a  high  social  stand- 
ing, which  the  accomplished  wife,  with  the 
great  wealth  at  her  command,  was  well  quali- 
fied to  maintain. 

MRS.  ROBKRT  MORRISON 

Another  talented  woman  of  the  early  days 
was  Mrs.  Robert  Morrison,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Donaldson.  She  was  a  native  of 
Baltimore  and  a  member  of  one  of  the  wealth- 
iest and  most  aristocratic  families  of  that 
city.  She  received  an  excellent  education,  be- 
ing what  Reynolds  in  his  Pioneer  History 
is  pleased  to  term  "a  finished  and  classic 


20  The  Women  of  Illinois 

scholar."1  The  same  author  tells  us  that  she 
possessed  a  strong,  original  and  sprightly  mind, 
and  that  she  was  endowed  with  strong  per- 
ceptions and  much  originality  of  thought. 

Miss  Donaldson's  somewhat  romantic  dis- 
position and  a  desire  to  know  more  of  the 
West  led  her  to  accompany  her  brother,  in 
1805,  on  one  of  his  business  trips  to  St.  Louis. 
It  is  fair  to  suppose  that  a  young  woman  of 
such  graces  of  mind  and  body  would  soon 
have  many  admirers  among  the  susceptible 
young  men  of  the  West.  Hence  we  are  not 
surprised  to  learn  that  she  was  married  the 
next  year  to  Robert  Morrison,  a  rich  trader 
of  Kaskaskia. 

Mrs.  Morrison  possessed  great  energy  and 
activity  of  mind.  Reynolds,  already  quoted, 
states  that  "Her  delight  and  home  were  in  the 
rosy  field  of  poetry."  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is 
certain  that  some  of  her  poems  were  decided 
by  competent  critics  to  be  far  above  medium. 
Her  most  ambitious  literary  undertaking  was 
the  remodeling  of  the  Psalms  of  David.  This 
work  she  presented  to  the  officials  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  of  Philadelphia  to  be  used  in 
the  public  services  in  place  of  the  version  then 
used.  After  a  critical  examination  the  min- 


JReynolds:    Pioneer  History,  page   165. 


Mrs.  Robert  Morrison  21 

isters  refused  to  make  the  change,  their  re- 
fusal being  based  on  the  fact  that  the  new 
version,  although  quite  meritorious,  was  the 
work  of  an  unknown  individual. 

Mrs.  Morrison's  pen  was  never  idle.  She 
wrote  many  articles,  both  prose  and  poetry, 
for  one  of  the  leading  magazines  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  was  a  welcomed  contributor  to 
several  local  and  Eastern  newspapers. 

The  field  of  politics  was  not  unknown  to 
her.  She  explored  it  so  thoroughly  that  she 
was  able  to  write  intelligently  not  only  upon 
the  political  questions  of  the  day,  but  also  on 
the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  the 
science  of  politics  rests. 

Mr.  Morrison  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and 
being  socially  inclined  and  very  proud  of  his 
wife,  encouraged  her  to  entertain  quite  freely. 
And  so  the  Morrison  mansion  extended  its 
hospitality  to  all  eminent  strangers  who  visited 
that  part  of  the  country,  as  well  as  to  the  local 
celebrities.  It  was  especially  the  center  at 
which  gathered  the  literati  of  the  immediate 
valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  subject  of  our  sketch  entered  thor- 
oughly into  an  investigation  of  the  various  re- 
ligious systems.  As  a  result  she  became  a 
Presbyterian ;  but  on  further  investigation  and 


The  Women  of  Illinois 

reflection  she  entered  the  Catholic  church. 
Believing  that  that  was  the  only  church  and 
that  out  of  it  there  was  no  salvation,  she  de- 
voted her  powers  to  the  making  of  converts  to 
that  faith.  And  through  her  energy,  example, 
and  influence,  nearly  all  who  belonged  in  her 
social  circle  became  Catholics.  She  died  at 
Belleville  in  1843. 


CHAPTER  THREE 

MRS.    MARY   A,    BICK£RDYK£ 

PERHAPS  the  reason  why  woman  occu- 
pies so  small  a  space  in  the  history  of 
the  State  is  because  her  efforts  have  been  al- 
ways for  peace,  and  peace  is  too  modest  to 
blazon  forth  its  own  merits.  The  husbands 
and  brothers  go  forth  to  battle  cheered  by  the 
multitude  and^rinslwredofryi^he  **0Hftig  .  ft  rum 
and  the  bray^^rfth^^^^^^i^^^a  sis- 
ters work  ir^  quiet^and  escape  {he,  notice  of  the 
thoughtless  crowd.  The.  soldier  goes  forth  to 
destroyvdif  d,  ^Msp.isi9telr?:jkal^i^wvtotifir«9*rMe  it, 
and  destruction  arr 


than  cloes  preservation.  One  brings  sorrow 
and  suffering  into  the  homes  of  the  land,  the 
other  tries  to  alleviate  sorrow  and  pour  the  oil 
of  consolation  into  the  wounded  hearts. 

The  Civil  War  gave  woman  a  great  oppor- 
tunity for  her  merciful  ministrations,  and  she 
rose  grandly  to  the  occasion.  Heroically  she 
followed  in  the  wake  of  the  destroying  soldier 
and  bound  up  the  wounds  which  he  had  made. 
Patiently  she  nursed  back  to  strength  the  form 


The  Women  of  Illinois 

reflection  she  entered  the  Catholic  church. 
Believing  that  that  was  the  only  church  and 
that  out  of  it  there  was  no  salvation,  she  de- 
voted her  powers  to  the  making  of  converts  to 
that  faith.  And  through  her  energy,  example, 
and  influence,  nearly  all  who  belonged  in  her 
social  circle  became  Catholics.  She  died  at 
Belleville  in  1843. 


O,  ivomanf  in  our  hours  of  ease, 
Uncertain,  coy,  and  hard  to  please. 


When  pain  and  anguish  urine,  the  brow, 
A  ministering  angel  thou, 

—Scott 


CHAPTER  THREE 

MRS.    MARY   A. 


DERHAPS  the  reason  why  woman  occu- 
-*•  pies  so  small  a  space  in  the  history  of 
the  State  is  because  her  efforts  have  been  al- 
ways for  peace,  and  peace  is  too  modest  to 
blazon  forth  its  own  merits.  The  husbands 
and  brothers  go  forth  to  battle  cheered  by  the 
multitude  and  inspired  by  the  rolling  drum 
and  the  braying  trumpet;  the  wives  and  sis- 
ters work  in  quiet  and  escape  the  notice  of  the 
thoughtless  crowd.  The  soldier  goes  forth  to 
destroy  life,  his  sister  labors  to  preserve  it, 
and  destruction  arrests  attention  more  readily 
than  does  preservation.  One  brings  sorrow 
and  suffering  into  the  homes  of  the  land,  the 
other  tries  to  alleviate  sorrow  and  pour  the  oil 
of  consolation,  into  the  wounded  hearts. 

The  Civil  War  gave  woman  a  great  oppor- 
tunity for  her  merciful  ministrations,  and  she 
rose  grandly  to  the  occasion.  Heroically  she 
followed  in  the  wake  of  the  destroying  soldier 
and  bound  up  the  wounds  which  he  had  made. 
Patiently  she  nursed  back  to  strength  the  form 


24  The  Women  of  Illinois 

wasted  by  disease,  and  reverently  she  knelt  by 
the  dying  and  spoke  words  of  comfort  that 
quieted  and  soothed  the  perturbed  spirit  about 
to  depart  from  earth. 

Of  the  many  noble  women  of  Illinois  who 
served  as  nurses  during  the  fratricidal  strug- 
gle, no  one  rendered  greater  service  to  the 
soldier  than  did  "Mother  Bickerdyke." 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke  was  living  in 
Galesburg  when  the  war  broke  out.  She  was 
forty-four  years  old,  and  had  considerable  ex- 
perience as  a  nurse.  "Her  well-known  skill  as 
a  nurse,  the  fertility  of  her  resources,  her 
burning  patriotism,  and  her  possession  of  that 
rare  combination  of  qualities  which  we  call 
'common  sense,'  had  always  enabled  her  to 
face  any  emergency.  At  the  suggestion  of  the 
ladies  of  Galesburg,  who  wanted  to  do  some- 
thing for  the  country,  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  went 
to  Cairo  in  1861,  where  in  that  first  year  of 
the  war  there  was  little  order,  system,  or  dis- 
cipline." 

Many  of  the  soldiers  were  sick  owing  to  the 
change  of  water,  the  change  of  climate,  and 
the  change  in  their  manner  of  living.  The 
loyal  people  of  Cairo  aided  her  in  her  unpaid 
labors,  hired  a  room  for  her,  which  she  turned 
into  a  sick-diet  kitchen,  in  which  she  prepared 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke         25 

suitable  food  for  the  sick  from  articles  sent 
to  her  by  the  Chicago  Sanitary  Commission. 

After  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson,  Mother 
Bickerdyke  went  from  Cairo  in  the  first  hos- 
pital boat,  and  assisted  in  the  removal  of  the 
wounded  to  Cairo,  St.  Louis,  and  Louisville. 
The  hospital  boats  at  that  time  were  poorly 
equipped  for  transporting  the  wounded.  But 
this  thoughtful  woman,  who  made  five  trips 
from  the  battle  field  to  the  hospital,  put  on 
board  the  boat  with  which  she  was  connected, 
before  it  started  from  Cairo,  an  abundance  of 
necessaries.  She  was  able  to  do  this  because 
the  loyal  women  of  Illinois,  through  their 
Sanitary  Commission,  were  keeping  her  sup- 
plied with  what  experience  was  showing  was 
most  helpful  to  the  soldiers.  A  volunteer  sur- 
geon, who  was  with  her  on  the  boat,  declared, 
"I  never  saw  anybody  like  her.  There  was 
really  nothing  for  us  surgeons  to  do  but  dress 
wounds  and  administer  medicine.  She  drew 
out  clean  shirts  or  drawers  from  some  corner 
whenever  they  were  needed.  Nourishment 
was  ready  for  every  man  as  soon  as  he  was 
brought  on  board.  Every  one  was  sponged 
from  blood  and  the  frozen  mire  of  the  battle- 
field, as  far  as  his  condition  allowed.  His 
blood-stiffened,  and  sometimes  horribly  filthy 


26  The  Women  of  Illinois 

uniform,  was  exchanged  for  soft  and  clean 
hospital  garments.  Incessant  cries  of  Mother ! 
Mother!  Mother!  rang  through  the  boat,  in 
every  note  of  beseeching  anguish.  And  to 
every  man  she  turned  with  a  heavenly  tender- 
ness, as  if  he  were  indeed,  her  son.  She 
moved  about  with  a  decisive  air,  and  gave  di- 
rections in  such  a  positive  manner  as  to 
ensure  prompt  obedience.  We  all  had  an  im- 
pression that  she  held  a  commission  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  or  at  least,  from  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Illinois." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  she  held  no  official 
position,  whatever,  at  this  time,  and  received 
no  compensation  for  her  services.  Later  she 
was  taken  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  received  the  munificent  wages  of 
thirteen  dollars  a  month. 

When  she  entered  upon  her  labors  as  a  nurse 
she  adopted  all  soldiers  as  her  children,  and 
faithfully  and  fondly,  even,  did  she  mother 
them.  Not  only  did  she  care  for  them  ten- 
derly in  the  hospital;  but  after  a  battle  she 
was  often  seen  on  the  battle  field,  with  her 
lantern,  in  the  stillness  of  the  night,  groping 
among  the  dead  and  turning  their  cold  faces 
towards  her  light,  uneasy  lest  some  wounded 
soldier  might  have  been  left  uncared  for. 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke         27 

The  Chicago  Sanitary  Commission  had  un- 
limited confidence  in  the  wisdom,  integrity  and 
efficiency  of  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  and  kept  her 
well  supplied  with  such  stores  as  were  needed 
by  the  sick  and  wounded.  Three  days  after 
the  battle  of  Shiloh,  the  boats  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission  arrived  at  Pittsburg  Landing 
laden  with  condensed  food,  stimulants,  cloth- 
ing, bedding,  medicines,  chloroform,  surgical 
instruments,  and  carefully  selected  volunteer 
nurses  and  surgeons.  Here  Mother  Bicker- 
dyke  was  found  carrying  system,  order,  and 
relief  wherever  she  went.  One  of  the  sur- 
geons went  to  the  rear  with  a  wounded  man, 
and  found  her  wrapped  in  the  gray  overcoat 
of  a  Confederate  officer,  for  she  had  given  her 
blanket  shawl  to  some  poor  fellow  who  needed 
it.  She  was  wearing  a  soft  slouched  hat,  hav- 
ing lost  her  inevitable  shaker  bonnet.  Her 
kettles  had  been  set  up,  the  fires  kindled  un- 
derneath, and  she  was  dispensing  hot  soup, 
tea,  crackers,  whiskey  and  water  and  other  re- 
freshments to  the  shivering,  fainting,  and 
wounded  men. 

"Where  did  you  get  these  articles?"  the 
surgeon  inquired,  "and  under  whose  authority 
are  you  at  work?"  She  paid  no  attention  to 
his  questions,  indeed,  it  is  doubtful  if  she 


28  The  Women  of  Illinois 

heard  them,  so  absorbed  was  she  in  her  work 
of  mercy.  Watching  her  with  admiration  for 
her  skill  and  intelligence,  for  she  not  only  fed 
the  wounded  men,  but  temporarily  dressed 
their  wounds  in  some  cases,  he  addressed  her 
again : 

"Madam,  you  seem  to  combine  in  yourself 
a  sick-diet  kitchen  and  a  medical  staff.  May 
I  inquire  under  whose  authority  you  are 
working?" 

Without  pausing  in  her  work,  she  answered 
him,  "I  have  received  my  authority  from  the 
Lord  God  Almighty;  have  you  anything  that 
ranks  higher  than  that?"  Believing  thus,  it 
may  easily  be  inferred  that  she  paid  but  slight 
attention  to  red  tape,  even  to  army  red  tape, 
which  is  the  reddest  of  all  red  tape. 

While  at  her  work  of  mercy,  she  had  sev- 
eral set-tos  with  army  surgeons.  One  of  these 
spats  is  related  by  Mrs.  Mary  Livermore, 
Mrs.  Bickerdyke's  biographer,  and  who  was 
present  at  the  time  it  occurred. 

"I  was  in  her  hospital  about  noon,"  says 
Mrs.  Livermore,  "when  the  ward-master  of 
the  fourth  story  came  to  the  kitchen,  to  tell 
her  that  the  surgeon  of  that  ward  had  not 
made  his  appearance,  the  special  diet  list  for 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke         29 

the  ward  had  not  yet  been  made  out,  and  the 
men  were  suffering  for  their  breakfasts, 

"  'Haven't  had  their  breakfasts !  Why  didn't 
you  tell  me  of  this  sooner?  Here,  stop!  The 
poor  fellows  must  be  fed  immediately.'  And 
filling  enormous  tin  pails  and  trays  with  cof- 
fee, soup,  gruel,  toast,  and  other  like 
food,  she  sent  half  a  dozen  men  ahead  with 
them.  Extending  to  me  a  six-gallon  pail  of 
hot  soup,  she  bade  me  follow  her,  being 
freighted  herself  with  a  pail  of  similar  size  in 
each  hand.  I  stood  looking  on  at  the  distribu- 
tion, when  her  clarion  voice  rang  out  to  me  in 
tones  of  authority :  'Come,  make  yourself 
alive,  Mary  Livermore!  Try  to  be  useful! 
Help  these  men!'  I  never  knew  anyone  who 
deliberately  disregarded  her  orders — I  had  no 
thought  but  to  obey — and  so  I  sat  down  to 
feed  a  man  who  was  too  weak,  to  help  himself. 

"While  we  were  all  busy,  the  surgeon  of 
the  ward  came  in,  looking  as  if  he  had  just 
risen  from  sleeping  off  a  night's  debauch.  In- 
stantly there  was  a  change  in  the  tones  of 
Mother  Bickerdyke's  voice,  and  in  the  expres- 
sion of  her  face.  She  was  no  longer  a  tender, 
pitying,  sympathizing  mother,  but  Alecto  her- 
self. 

"  'You  miserable,  drunken,  heartless  scala- 


30  The  Women  of  Illinois 

wag!'  shaking  her  finger  and  head  at  him, 
threateningly,  'what  do  you  mean  by  leaving 
these  fainting,  suffering  men  to  go  until  now 
with  nothing  to  eat,  and  no  attention?  Not  a 
word,  sir!'  as  he  undertook  to  make  an  ex- 
planation. 'Off  with  your  shoulder-straps, 
and  get  out  of  this  hospital!  I'll  have  them 
off  in  three  days;'  and  she  was  as  good  as 
her  word.  He  was  dismissed  from  the  ser- 
vice. He  went  to  General  Sherman  and  de- 
clared he  had  been  dismissed  on  false  charges. 
'Who  made  the  charges?'  asked  the  general. 
'Why — why — I  suppose,'  said  the  surgeon,  'it 
was  that  spiteful  old  woman,  Mrs.  Bicker- 
dyke.  'Oh,  well,  then,'  said  Sherman,  'if  it 
was  she,  I  can't  help  you.  She  has  more 
power  than  I — she  ranks  me.'  And  that  closed 
the  matter." 

An  incident  that  took  place  while  she  was 
in  charge  of  the  Gayoso  hospital  in  Memphis 
will  show  the  resourcefulness  of  the  woman. 
She  had  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  eggs  and 
milk  for  the  sick  and  wounded.  These  could 
not  be  sent  from  the  North,  and  the  small 
quantity  of  each  that  could  be  bought  in  the 
city  and  vicinity  was  inadequate  and  of  poor 
quality. 

Approaching  the  medical  director  in  charge 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke         31 

of  the  hospital,  she  accosted  him  one  day  with, 
"Doctor,  do  you  know  we  are  paying  these 
Memphis  secesh  fifty  cents  for  every  quart  of 
milk  we  use  ?  And  do  you  know  it's  such  poor 
stuff — two-thirds  chalk  and  water — that  if  you 
should  pour  it  in  the  trough  of  a  respectable 
pig  at  home,  he  would  turn  up  his  nose,  and 
run  off,  squealing  in  disgust?" 

"Well,  what  can  we  do  about  it?"  asked  the 
doctor. 

"If  you'll  give  me  a  thirty  days'  furlough 
and  transportation,  I'll  go  home,  and  get  all 
the  milk  and  eggs  that  the  Memphis  hospitals 


can  use." 


"Get  milk  and  eggs!  Why,  you  could  not 
bring  them  down  here,  if  the  North  would 
give  you  all  it  has.  A  barrel  of  eggs  would 
spoil  this  warm  weather  before  it  could  reach 
us ;  and  how  on  earth  could  you  bring  milk  ?" 

"But  I'll  bring  down  the  milk  and  egg  pro- 
ducers. I'll  get  cows  and  hens,  and  we'll  have 
milk  and  eggs  of  our  own.  The  folks  at 
home,  doctor,  will  give  us  all  the  hens  and 
cows  we  need  for  the  use  of  these  hospitals, 
and  jump  at  the  chance  to  do  it.  You  needn't 
laugh,  nor  shake  your  head!"  as  he  turned 
away,  amused  and  incredulous. 

"I  tell  you,"  she  insisted,  "the  people  at  the 


The  Women  of  Illinois 

North  ache  to  do  something  for  the  boys 
down  here,  and  I  can  get  fifty  cows  in  Illinois 
for  just  the  asking." 

"Pshaw!  pshaw!"  said  the  doctor,  "you 
would  be  laughed  at  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other,  if  you  should  go  on  so 
wild  an  errand." 

"Fiddlesticks!  Who  cares  for  that?  Give 
me  a  furlough  and  transportation,  and  let  me 
try  it." 

So  she  came  North  and  secured  the  cows 
with  little  difficulty.  A  few  farmers  in  the 
central  part  of  the  State  gave  her  a  hundred 
without  delay.  They  were  sent  to  Springfield, 
whence  Governor  Yates  had  promised  they 
should  be  shipped  to  Memphis,  in  herds  of 
fifteen  or  twenty,  with  someone  in  charge  of 
each  herd  to  take  care  of  the  animals.  And 
"Dick  Yates,  the  soldiers'  friend,"  kept  his 
promise. 

The  hens,  of  which  she  received  a  large 
number,  were  sent  to  the  rooms  of  the  Sani- 
tary Commission  in  Chicago.  In  less  than  a 
week  the  rooms  were  transformed  into  a  large 
hennery.  And  the  crowing,  cackling,  and 
quarreling  were  so  incessant  that  the  office 
force  was  glad  to  hasten  the  departure  of  their 
feathered  guests.  They  were  dispatched  to 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke         33 

Memphis  in  four  shipments,  in  coops  contain- 
ing about  two  dozens  each. 

Before  her  thirty  days'  leave  of  absence  was 
ended,  Mother  Bickerdyke  was  on  her  way 
back,  at  the  head  of  a  unique  procession  of 
one  hundred  cows  and  a  thousand  hens,  strung 
all  along  the  route  from  Chicago  to  Memphis. 
She  entered  that  city  in  triumph,  amid  great 
lowing,  crowing  and  cackling,  and  informed 
the  astonished  Memphians  that,  "These  are 
loyal  cows  and  hens;  none  of  your  miserable 
trash  that  give  chalk  and  water  for  milk,  and 
lay  loud-smelling  eggs." 

General  Hurlburt,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the  department,  hearing  of  this  novel  immi- 
gration within  his  lines,  gave  up  to  the  noisy 
new-comers  President's  Island,  lying  in  the 
Mississippi,  opposite  the  city,  and  detailed  a 
number  of  "contrabands"  to  take  care  of  them. 
And  as  long  as  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  remained  in 
Memphis  there  was  an  abundance  of  milk  and 
eggs  for  the  use  of  the  hospitals. 

General  Sherman  was  Mother  Bickerdyke' s 
beau  ideal.  He  was  her  great  man  and  great 
soldier.  She  would  always  defend  General 
Grant  like  a  tigress  if  he  were  assailed;  but 
it  was  clear  to  everyone  that  General  Sherman 
was  the  special  object  of  her  idolatry.  She 


34  The  Women  of  Illinois 

rated  him  higher  than  Grant,  higher  than  Lin- 
coln, and  altogether  superior  as  a  soldier  to 
Washington  or  Wellington. 

General  Sherman,  on  his  side,  fully  ap- 
preciated Mother  Bickerdyke;  and  when  he 
was  curt  and  repellant  to  all  agents,  nurses, 
and  employes  of  the  Sanitary,  Christian  and 
State  Commissions,  she  had  free  admittance 
to  his  headquarters,  and  usually  obtained  any 
favors  she  chose  to  ask.  There  was  something 
in  her  character  akin  to  his  own.  Both  were 
restless,  impetuous,  fiery,  hard-working  and 
indomitable,  yet  she  confessed  frankly  that  he 
sometimes  tried  her  patience. 

One  of  these  occasions  was  when  he  was 
preparing  for  his  Atlanta  campaign.  He  had 
issued  an  order  absolutely  forbidding  agents 
in  charge  of  sanitary  stores,  or  agents  of  any 
description  to  go  over  the  road  from  Nash- 
ville to  Chattanooga.  He  alleged  as  the  rea- 
son for  this  prohibition  that  he  wished  the 
entire  ability  of  the  railroad  devoted  to  strictly 
military  operations.  There  was  great  distress 
in  the  hospitals  south  of  Nashville,  and  that 
city  was  full  of  sanitary  stores  and  agents  who 
were  anxious  to  minister  to  the  needs  of  the 
sick  and  wounded,  but  were  debarred  from 
doing  so  by  this  order.  Mother  Bickerdyke 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke         35 

knowing  the  crying  needs  of  the  boys,  deter- 
mined to  beard  the  lion  in  his  den  in  spite  of 
the  advice  and  remonstrance  of  her  friends, 
as  General  Sherman  was  not  a  man  to  be 
trifled  with.  But  go  she  would  and  did,  and 
made  her  appearance  unexpectedly  at  head- 
quarters in  Chattanooga. 

"Halloo!  Why,  how  did  you  get  down 
here?"  asked  one  of  the  general's  staff  officers, 
as  he  saw  her  enter  Sherman's  headquarters. 

"Came  down  in  the  cars,  of  course.  There's 
no  other  way  of  getting  here  that  I  know  of," 
replied  the  matter-of-fact  woman.  "I  want 
to  see  General  Sherman." 

"He  is  in  there  writing,"  said  the  officer, 
pointing  to  an  inner  room;  "but  I  guess  he 
won't  see  you." 

"Guess  he  will!"  Good  morning,  General! 
I  want  to  speak  to  you  a  moment.  May  I 
come  in?" 

"I  should  think  you  had  got  in!"  answered 
the  general,  barely  looking  up,  in  great  annoy- 
ance. "What's  up  now?)r" 

"Why,  General,"  said  the  earnest  matron, 
in  a  perfect  torrent  of  words,  "we  can't  stand 
this  last  order  of  yours  nohow.  You'll  have 
to  change  it,  as  sure  as  you  live.  We  can  get 
along  without  any  more  nurses  and  agents, 


36  The  Women  of  Illinois 

but  the  supplies  we  must  have.  The  sick  and 
wounded  men  need  them,  and  you'll  have  to 
give  permission  to  bring  them  down." 

"Well,  I  am  busy  today,  and  cannot  attend 
to  you.  I  will  see  you  some  other  time."  But 
though  Sherman  kept  on  writing,  and  did  not 
look  up,  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  saw  a  smile  lurking 
in  the  corner  of  his  mouth,  and  knew  she 
would  carry  her  point;  so  she  persisted. 

"No,  General!  don't  send  me  away  until 
you've  fixed  this  thing  as  it  ought  to  be  fixed. 
You  had  me  assigned  to  your  corps,  and  told 
me  that  you  expected  me  to  look  after  the 
nursing  of  the  men  who  needed  it.  But  I 
should  like  to  know  how  I  can  do  this  if  I 
don't  have  anything  to  do  with?  Have  some 
sense  about  it  now,  General." 

There  was  a  hearty  laugh  at  this,  and  a  lit- 
tle badinage  ensued,  which  Mother  Bicker- 
dyke  ended  in  her  brusque  way,  "Well,  I  can't 
stand  here  fooling  all  day.  Now,  General, 
write  an  order  for  two  cars  a  day  to  be  sent 
down  from  the  sanitary  supplies  at  Nashville, 
and  I'll  be  satisfied."  The  order  was  written, 
and  for  weeks  all  the  sanitary  stores  sent  from 
Nashville  to  Chattanooga,  and  the  posts  along 
the  road,  were  sent  directly  or  indirectly 
through  the  mediation  of  this  noble  woman. 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bickerdyke         37 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  story  of  Mrs. 
Bickerdyke  must  be  closed  at  this  point.  Only 
a  few  of  the  more  important  events  in  her 
career  have  been  touched  upon,  and  they 
rather  lightly.  None  but  the  recording  angel 
and  herself  know  the  importance  of  the  work 
she  did  during  the  Civil  War ;  and  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  she  knows  it,  as  she  was  too  busy  doing 
good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  her  boys  in 
blue  to  keep  a  record  of  her  own  deeds. 


CHAPTER  FOUR 

MRS.   MARY  A. 


TV/TARY  A.  LIVERMORE  was  born  in 
*•**•  Boston,  December,  1821.  After  com- 
pleting her  school  education  she  taught  for 
some  time  in  the  Charleston  Female  Seminary, 
and  later  was  governess  on  a  Virginia  planta- 
tion for  two  years. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  she 


Mr.   L 

church  and  editor  of  "The 

.?VintUDtK  —  -.      '  , 

religio-literary  newspaper.  Or,  perhaps  it 
would  be  more  proper  to  say  that  he  and  his 
wife  were  joint  editors,  as  she  wrote  articles 
for  every  issue  of  the  paper,  even  during  the 
war  when  she  was  so  busily  engaged  in  mak- 
ing the  lot  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  a 
little  less  wretched  than  it  otherwise  would 
have  been. 

It  was  natural  that  Mrs.  Livermore  should 
be  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  Union  and  an  un- 
faltering friend  of  those  who  fought  to  pre- 
serve it.  Her  father,  himself  the  son  of  a 


How  siveetly  sounds  the  voice  of  a  good  woman! 
It  is  so  seldom  heard  that,  when  it  speaks, 
It  ravishes  all  senses. 

— Massinger 


CHAPTER  FOUR 

MRS.   MARY  A. 


JY/TARY  A.  LIVERMORE  was  born  in 
*•*•*'  Boston,  December,  1821.  After  com- 
pleting her  school  education  she  taught  for 
some  time  in  the  Charleston  Female  Seminary, 
and  later  was  governess  on  a  Virginia  planta- 
tion for  two  years. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  she 
and  her  husband  were  residents  of  Chicago. 
Mr.  Livermore  was  pastor  of  a  prominent 
church  and  editor  of  "The  New  Covenant,"  a 
religio-literary  newspaper.  Or,  perhaps  it 
would  be  more  proper  to  say  that  he  and  his 
wife  were  joint  editors,  as  she  wrote  articles 
for  every  issue  of  the  paper,  even  during  the 
war  when  she  was  so  busily  engaged  in  mak- 
ing the  lot  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  a 
little  less  wretched  than  it  otherwise  would 
have  been. 

It  was  natural  that  Mrs.  Livermore  should 
be  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  Union  and  an  un- 
faltering friend  of  those  who  fought  to  pre- 
serve it.  Her  father,  himself  the  son  of  a 


40  The  Women  of  Illinois 

Revolutionary  soldier,  fought  bravely  through 
the  War  of  1812. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  the 
daughter  was  called  to  Boston,  as  her  father 
was  supposed  to  be  dying.  When  the  news 
of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  reached  him,  he 
turned  his  face  to  the  wall,  and  cried  in  an- 
guish :  "My  God !  now  let  me  die,  for  I  can 
not  survive  the  ruin  of  my  country!"  But 
when  President  Lincoln's  call  for  troops,  and 
the  hearty  response  with  which  it  was  greeted 
were  read  to  him  his  health  began  to  improve, 
and  he  lived  to  hear  the  glad  tidings  of  Lee's 
surrender  to  Grant  at  Appomattox  Court 
House. 

On  seeing  a  marked  improvement  in  her 
father's  health,  Mrs.  Livermore  returned  to 
Chicago  where  she  found  patriotism  at  a  white 
heat.  Boston  at  this  crucial  moment  was 
grand,  Chicago  was  overwhelming.  Boston 
had  its  Faneuil  Hall  to  re-awaken  glorious 
memories,  Chicago  had  its  "Wigwam,"  now 
re-baptized  and  named  National  Hall  and  con- 
secrated, not  to  party  but  to  patriotism.  And 
on  the  evening  of  the  day  that  Fort  Sumter 
surrendered,  the  great  hall  was  packed  with 
men  and  women  who  came  to  consecrate  them- 
selves to  the  cause  of  their  country,  and  eight 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore         41 

days  after  the  lowering  of  the  flag  in  Charles- 
ton harbor,  a  force  of  Chicago  volunteers  Were 
on  their  way  to  Cairo. 

"The  great  uprising  among  men,  who  ig- 
nored party  and  politics,  and  forgot  sect  and 
trade,  in  the  fervor  of  their  quickened  love  of 
country,  was  paralleled  by  a  similar  uprising 
among  women.  The  patriotic  speech  and 
song,  which  fired  the  blood  of  men,  and  led 
them  to  enter  the  lists  as  soldiers,  nourished 
the  self-sacrifice  of  women,  and  stimulated 
them  to  the  collection  of  hospital  supplies,  and 
to  brave  the  horrors  and  hardships  of  hospital 
life. 

"If  men  responded  to  the  call  of  country 
when  it  demanded  soldiers  by  the  hundred 
thousand,  women  planned  money-making  en- 
terprises, Whose  vastness  of  conception  and 
good  business  management,  yielded  millions 
of  dollars  to  be  expended  in  the  interest  of 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  If  men  faltered 
not,  and  went  gayly  to  death,  that  the  United 
States  might  remain  intact  and  undivided,  wo- 
men strengthened  them  by  accepting  the  policy 
of  the  government  uncomplainingly.  When 
the  telegraph  recorded  for  the  country  'de- 
feat' instead  of  Victory/  and  for  their  be- 
loved, 'death'  instead  of  'life,'  women  contin- 


42  The  Women  of  Illinois 

ued  to  give  the  government  their  faith,  and 
patiently  worked  and  waited."1 

Many  women,  however,  could  not  wait  pa- 
tiently, but  enlisted  and  fought  bravely  in  the 
ranks.  Most  of  these  disguised  themselves  in 
men's  clothing,  and  their  sex  was  revealed  only 
by  accident  or  casualty.  Others  without  any 
disguise,  joined  the  commands  in  which  their 
husbands  served,  and  in  the  hour  of  battle 
their  courage  was  equal  to  that  of  their  male 
companions. 

The  most  notable  instance  of  this  latter  class 
was  Madame  Turchin,  wife  of  the  colonel  of 
the  i Qth  Illinois  regiment.  This  lady  was  the 
daughter  of  a  Russian  officer,  and  was  born 
and  reared  in  foreign  camps.  She  followed 
the  fortunes  of  her  husband  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  accompanied  him  to  the  field.  She  was 
intensely  loyal  to  the  Union,  and  thoroughly 
American  in  her  sympathies  and  interests.  She 
was  as  popular  with  the  men  of  her  husband's 
regiment  as  she  had  been  with  the  Russian  sol- 
diers commanded  by  her  father.  They  went 
to  her  with  their  troubles,  and  she  received 
them  with  kindness,  a  good  deal  of  playful 
badinage,  and  very  careful  nursing  when  it 
was  needed. 

*My  Story  of  the  Civil  War :   Mary  A.  Livermore. 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore         43 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  when  the  iQth  was 
actively  engaged  in  Tennessee,  Colonel  Ttir- 
chin  was  taken  seriously  ill,  and  was  carried 
for  days  in  an  ambulance.  His  wife  not  only 
nursed  him  most  tenderly,  but  took  his  place 
at  the  head  of  the  regiment,  and  the  men  in 
the  ranks  as  well  as  the  subordinate  officers 
yielded  her  implicit  obedience,  as  they  could 
see  that  she  was  equal  to  her  husband  in  cour- 
age and  military  skill.  Utterly  devoid  of  fear, 
and  manifesting  perfect  indifference  to  shot  or 
shell,  or  minnie-balls,  even  when  they  fell 
thickly  around  her,  she  led  the  troops  into  ac- 
tion, facing  the  hottest  fire,  and  fought  bravely 
at  their  head.  When  her  husband  was  able  to 
resume  his  command,  she  gave  herself  again 
to  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  in  the 
field  hospital. 

But  while  we  must  admire  the  bravery  and 
patriotism  of  the  women  who  risked  their  lives 
on  the  field  of  battle,  we  cannot  believe  that 
they  rendered  the  noblest  service  to  the  coun- 
try during  those  four  terrible  years  of  fratri- 
cidal war.  It  is  nobler  to  heal  wounds  than  it 
is  to  make  them;  more  godlike  to  kindle  hope 
in  the  hopeless,  to  nourish  the  wan  and  feeble, 
and  restore  them  to  health  and  vigor;  and  this 
is  the  blessed  work  to  which  the  great  body 


44  The  Women  of  Illinois 

of  American  women  devoted  themselves  dur- 
ing the  war.  And  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  no  one  played  a  more  important  part  in 
this  work  of  salvation  than  did  Mary  A.  Liv- 
ermore. 

When  the  war  broke  out  the  government 
was  poorly  prepared  for  it.  The  leaders  of 
public  opinion  in  the  south  had  been  planning 
secession  for  years,  consequently  that  section 
was  better  prepared  for  the  war  than  were  the 
people  of  the  north,  who  did  not  believe  until 
Sumter  was  fired  upon,  that  there  would  be  a 
war.  So,  when  the  crisis  came  and  the  gov- 
ernment rushed  men  into  the  field,  many  were 
without  uniforms,  some  were  without  arms, 
and  the  commissary  department  was  demor- 
alized. The  soldiers  were  actually  suffering 
for  food  in  a  land  of  plenty.  The  change  from 
the  variety  of  wholesome  food  to  which  they 
were  accustomed  to  the  fat  pork,  hard-tack, 
and  muddy  coffee  was  so  great  and  sudden 
that  many  became  sick  and  went"  to  the  hos- 
pitals, or  what  was  meant  for  hospitals,  for 
hospitals  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term  did 
not  exist  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  The 
sick  had  the  same  kind  of  food  as  the  well. 
There  were  few  nurses,  and  many  of  the  sur- 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore         45 

geons  were  deficient  in  skill  and  lax  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duties. 

The  patriotic  women  of  the  North,  learning 
of  the  sad  plight  of  their  husbands,  sons,  and 
fathers,  organized  themselves  into  "Soldiers' 
Relief  Societies,"  for  the  purpose  of  providing 
the  soldiers  from  their  respective  neighbor- 
hoods with  home  comforts  when  well,  and 
with  hospital  supplies  and  nurses  when 
wounded  or  sick.  The  purpose  of  these  socie- 
ties was  commendable  and  their  zeal  was  great, 
but  in  many  instances  it  was  zeal  without 
knowledge.  Canned  fruits  and  jars  of  jam 
and  marmalade  were  sometimes  packed  with 
clothing,  books  and  stationery,  photographs 
and  comfort  bags.  Baggage  cars  were  soon 
flooded  with  fermenting  sweetmeats,  and  bro- 
ken pots  of  jelly,  decaying  fruit,  and  pastry 
and  cake  in  a  demoralized  condition,  and  many 
of  the  packages  were  lost  en  route. 

It  was  this  disheartening  condition  that  led 
to  the  organization  of  the  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion. The  country  was  divided  into  depart- 
ments, and  at  the  head  of  each  were  capable 
men  and  women  who  devoted  gratuitously 
their  entire  time  to  the  work.  The  department 
of  the  Northwest  had  for  its  receiving  and  dis- 
tributing point  the  city  of  Chicago;  and  at  its 


46  The  Women  of  Illinois 

head  were  Mrs.  Livermore  and  Mrs.  Hoge, 
ably  assisted  by  two  or  three  of  the  most  prom- 
inent men  of  the  city.  Rooms  were  obtained 
and  able  assistants  engaged.  Into  these  rooms 
poured  the  freewill  offering  of  .the  Northwest. 
Every  box  and  package  were  opened,  the  con- 
tents assorted  and  repacked,  so  that  each  con- 
tained but  one  line  of  goods. 

Here  were  packed  and  shipped  to  the  battle- 
fields or  hospitals  77,660  packages  of  sanitary 
supplies.  Every  box  received  at  headquarters, 
and  sometimes  every  article  had  notes  fastened 
to  them.  Where  the  notes  were  sealed,  the 
seals  were  never  broken,  so  their  contents  were 
known  only  to  the  sender  and  receiver.  But 
many  of  the  notes  were  unsealed,  and  some  of 
those  were  read.  Mrs.  Livermore  in  her  book, 
"My  Story  of  the  Civil  War,"  gives  a  few  of 
those,  four  of  which  I  have  copied.  In  a  pair 
of  socks  was  found  this: 


Dear  Boy,  —  I  have  knit  these  socks 
expressly  for  you.  How  do  you  like  them? 
How  do  you  look,  and  where  do  you  live  when 
you  are  at  home?  I  am  nineteen  years  old,  of 
medium  height,  of  slight  build,  with  blue  eyes, 
fair  complexion,  light  hair,  and  a  good  deal 
of  it.  Write  and  tell  me  all  about  yourself, 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore         47 

and  how  you  get  on  in  the  hospital.     Direct 

to 

P.  S. — If  the  recipient  of  these  socks  has  a 
wife,  will  he  please  exchange  socks  with  some 
poor  fellow  not  so  fortunate. 

A  nicely  made  dressing  gown,  large  enough 
to  fit  Falstaff,  had  one  huge  pocket  filled  with 
hickory  nuts  and  the  other  with  gingersnaps, 
and  both  sewed  to  prevent  the  contents  from 
dropping  out.  On  this  was  the  following 
note: 

"My  Dear  Fellow, — Just  take  your  ease  in 
this  dressing  gown.  Don't  mope  and  have  the 
blues,  if  you  are  sick.  Moping  never  cured 
anybody  yet.  Eat  your  nuts  and  cakes,  if  you 
are  well  enough,  and  snap  your  fingers  at  dull 
care.  I  wish  I  could  do  more  for  you,  and  if 
I  were  a  man  I  would  come  and  fight  with  you. 
Woman  though  I  am,  I'd  like  to  help  hang 
Jeff  Davis  higher  than  Haman — yes,  and  all 
who  aid  and  abet  him,  too,  whether  North  or 
South." 

In  one  box  was  found  a  bushel  of  cookies, 
tied  in  a  pillow-case,  on  which  was  fastened 
this  brief  note : 

"These  cookies  are  expressly  for  the  sick 


48  The  Women  of  Illinois 

soldiers,  and  if  anybody  else  eats  them,  I  hope 
they  will  choke  him." 

One  more  note  so  as  to  give  a  variety.  On 
a  neatly  arranged  package  of  second-hand 
clothing,  but  little  worn,  was  found  this  ex- 
planation : 

"The  accompanying  articles  were  worn  for 
the  last  time  by  one  very  dear  to  the  writer, 
who  lost  his  life  at  Shiloh.  They  are  sent  to 
our  wounded  soldiers  as  the  most  fitting  dis- 
position that  can  be  made  of  them,  by  one  who 
has  laid  the  husband  of  her  youth — her  all — 
on  the  altar  of  her  country." 

Not  only  were  the  women  interested  in  pro- 
viding supplies  for  the  sick  and  wounded  sol- 
diers, but  even  the  children  became  enthusiastic 
in  the  wrork.  In  nearly  every  city  of  the 
Northwest  fairs  and  festivals  were  held  by  the 
younger  people,  who  collected  considerable 
sums  of  money  by  this  means,  as  well  as  by 
the  sale  of  articles  made  by  themselves.  Be- 
sides the  sums  which  they  contributed  collect- 
ively, individual  boys  and  girls  gave  their 
scanty  hoardings  with  glad  hearts.  One  little 
fellow  who  often  thrust  his  dirty  face  into 
headquarters  and  startled  the  inmates  with  the 
shrill  cry  of  "Matches!  Matches!"  walked  up 
to  Mrs.  Livermore's  desk  one  day,  and  handed 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore         49 

her  fifty  cents  all  in  five-cent  currency,  saying 
"I'll  give  yer  suthin  for  them  are  sick  fellers!" 
She  hesitated  about  taking  it,  saying,  "No, 
my  boy;  don't  give  it.  I  am  afraid  you  cannot 
afford  it.  You're  a  noble  little  fellow,  but  that 
is  more  than  you  ought  to  give.  You  keep  it, 
and  I'll  give  fifty  cents  for  you — or  somebody 
else  will."  "Git  eout!"  was  his  disgusted  re- 
ply. "Yer  take  it  now.  P'raps  I  ain't  so  poor 
as  yer  think.  My  father,  he  saws  wood,  and 
my  mother,  she  takes  in  washin',  and  I  sells 
matches,  and  Tom,  he  sells  papers,  and  p'raps 
were  got  more  money  than  yer  think." 

What  could  she  do  but  accept  his  offering. 
And  forgetting  his  dirty  face  and  touseled  hair 
she  stooped  down  to  kiss  him.  But  divining 
her  intention  he  darted  out  on  the  sidewalk  as 
if  he  had  been  shot.  "No,  yer  don't!"  he  said, 
shaking  his  tangled  head  at  her,  and  looking 
as  if  he  had  escaped  a  great  danger.  "I  ain't 
one  o'  that  kissin'  sort." 

Mrs.  Livermore  and  those  associated  with 
her  at  the  Chicago  headquarters,  not  only  re- 
ceived, re-packed,  and  distributed  the  numer- 
ous supplies  sent  to  them,  but  she  visited  the 
hospitals  frequently  to  see  how  the  sick  and 
wounded  were  cared  for.  And  her  visits  al- 
ways brought  cheer  and  hope.  Her  presence 


50  The  Women  of  Illinois 

was  a  balm  to  many  of  the  brave  unfortunates. 
Her  ministrations  were  often  more  efficient 
than  the  skill  of  the  surgeon.  And  it  is  within 
the  bounds  of  truth  to  say  that  she  saved  as 
many  lives  as  did  even  the  most  skillful  of  the 
medical  staff.  Her  bright,  cheery  words  dis- 
pelled despondency  and  kindled  hope  in  the 
hearts  of  many  who  had  given  up  all  expecta- 
tion of  ever  again  seeing  home  or  friends. 

She  sent  trained  nurses  where  their  services 
were  needed  most,  and  furnished  them  with 
supplies  for  those  under  their  care.  Through 
her  efforts  many  soldiers  obtained  sick  fur- 
loughs and  were  permitted  to  go  home  to  re- 
cuperate. She  obtained  their  back  pay  for 
hundreds,  and  wrote  scores  of  letters  every 
day  for  men  who  were  so  maimed  or  weak 
that  they  could  not  write.  She  never  failed  to 
answer  every  letter  received  from  a  soldier,  or 
from  a  soldier's  relatives  inquiring  about  him, 
and  she  was  always  ready  and  willing  to  feed 
all  hungry  soldiers  who  called  at  headquarters, 
and  advise  them  as  to  the  best  route  to  their 
homes. 

Not  only  did  she  make  several  trips  to  the 
hospitals  in  the  southland,  but  she  frequently 
traveled  over  the  Northwest  urging  the  women 
to  greater  efforts,  as  the  demands  on  the  re- 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore         51 

sources  of  the  Commission  were  great  and  ur- 
gent, and  nobly  did  the  women  respond.  Ev- 
ery city,  town  and  village  had  its  fair,  festival, 
or  picnic  party  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
money  to  be  spent  for  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers,  but  still  the  supply  was  not  equal  to 
the  demand.  Not  that  the  patriotism  or  zeal 
of  the  loyal  women  of  the  Northwest  was  di- 
minishing in  the  least,  but  that  the  number 
needing  aid  had  wofully  increased. 

After  considering  the  matter  carefully,  Mrs. 
Livermore  and  her  able  assistant,  Mrs.  Hoge, 
decided  to  replenish  the  treasury  by  holding  a 
grand  fair  in  which  the  entire  Northwest 
would  take  part.  They  consulted  the  gentle- 
men of  the  Commission  who  languidly  ap- 
proved of  the  plan,  and  laughed  at  the  idea  of 
raising  $25,000  by  the  enterprise.  The  ladies 
were  not  discouraged,  however.  They  called 
upon  all  the  aid  societies  of  the  Northwest  to 
send  representatives  to  a  mass  meeting  of  wo- 
men to  be  held  in  Chicago.  The  response  was 
very  general.  These  delegates  entered  heart- 
ily into  Mrs.  L,ivermore's  plans,  and  returned 
to  their  homes  filled  with  holy  enthusiasm  for 
the  cause,  and  as  a  result  the  entire  Northwest 
was  aroused  in  behalf  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  as  never  before. 


52  The  Women  of  Illinois 

Circulars  were  sent  out  by  the  scores  of 
thousands.  The  newspapers  published  free  of 
charge  all  material  sent  to  them.  An  exten- 
sive correspondence  was  opened  with  govern- 
ors, congressmen,  members  of  legislatures, 
and  ministers  of  the  gospel.  The  ministers 
aided  very  much  by  advertising  the  fair  from 
their  pulpits,  and  urging  their  people  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  matter  as  a  religious  duty. 

The  amount  of  correspondence  carried  on 
by  the  central  office  was  well-nigh  incredible, 
as  may  be  seen  by  the  fact  that  on  one  occa- 
sion "seventeen  bushels  of  mail  matter,  all  of 
it  relating  to  the  fair,"  were  sent  out,  and  the 
answers  were  emphatic.  Instead  of  $25,000, 
the  ladies  cleared  nearly  $100,000;  and  they 
richly  deserved  their  victory. 

This  fair  of  1863  was  followed  by  others  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  But  although 
they  brought  large  sums  of  money  into  the 
treasury  of  the  general  Commission,  none 
aroused  the  enthusiasm  that  this  did. 

Owing  to  an  incident  that  took  place  in  con^ 
nection  with  this  fair,  Mrs.  Livermore  made  a 
vow  that  when  the  war  was  over,  she  would 
take  up  a  new  work — the  work  of  making  law 
and  justice  equal  for  men  and  women.  This 
vow  she  kept  religiously.  So  soon  as  the  war 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore          53 

was  over,  she  ascended  the  lecture  platform 
from  which  she  addressed  audiences  of  thous- 
ands. And  although  these  were  the  days  of 
brilliant  platform  speakers,  there  was  no  abler 
advocate  of  legal  equality  for  men  and  women 
than  Mary  A.  Livermore. 


CHAPTER  FIVE 
FRANCES  ELIZABETH 


DEACE  hath  its  victories  as  well  as  war. 
•••  Turning  aside  from  war  with  all  its  hor- 
rors, let  us  see  what  a  few  of  the  women  of 
Illinois  have  done  along  the  paths  of  peace. 

The  greatest  change  that  has  taken  place  in 
this  country  since  the  Civil  War  is  a  social 

one.     And   in  no  wav,  perhaps,  has  society 
,,  ,  bit  &1  1.  Umh,  <VmDA,i)  MASK.'/^!  K  i 

changed  so  much  .  as  m  its 
;htn>r  <}Ar\,o  $ffo)it 
the  use  of  mtoxica^ 

war  its  use  was  very 

abl^$$pf£rv  It  was  considered  by  many  that 
•no  social  function  could  be  a  success  unless 
liquor  was  very  much  in  evidence;  and  hos- 
pitality without  it  was  considered  a  misnomer. 
It  was  used  freely  in  all  classes  of  society. 
The  farmer  could  not  harvest  his  grain  nor 
"raise"  his  barn  without  it.  The  merchant 
kept  it  in  the  room  back  of  his  store  to  treat 
his  customers  and  so  retain  their  trade.  All 
classes  of  tradesmen  treated  their  patrons;  if 
they  did  not  their  business  was  sure  to  suffer. 
And  it  goes  with  the  saying  that  the  politi- 


A  lady  with  a  Lamp  shall  stand 
In  the  great  history  of  the  land, 
A  noble  type  of  good, 
Heroic  womanhood. 

— Longfellow 


CHAPTER  FIVE 
FRANCES  ELIZABETH  WIU,ARD 

EACE  hath  its  victories  as  well  as  war. 
Turning  aside  from  war  with  all  its  hor- 
rors, let  us  see  what  a  few  of  the  women  of 
Illinois  have  done  along  the  paths  of  peace. 

The  greatest  change  that  has  taken  place  in 
this  country  since  the  Civil  War  is  a  social 
one.  And  in  no  way,  perhaps,  has  society 
changed  so  much  as  in  its  attitude  towards 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Before  the 
war  its  use  was  very  general,  even  by  respect- 
able people.  It  was  considered  by  many  that 
no  social  function  could  be  a  success  unless 
liquor  was  very  much  in  evidence;  and  hos- 
pitality without  it  was  considered  a  misnomer. 
It  was  used  freely  in  all  classes  of  society. 
The  farmer  could  not  harvest  his  grain  nor 
"raise"  his  barn  without  it.  The  merchant 
kept  it  in  the  room  back  of  his  store  to  treat 
his  customers  and  so  retain  their  trade.  All 
classes  of  tradesmen  treated  their  patrons;  if 
they  did  not  their  business  was  sure  to  suffer. 
And  it  goes  with  the  saying  that  the  politi- 


56  The  Women  of  Illinois 

cians,  especially  the  seekers  for  office,  were 
very  liberal  in  treating  the  "sovereign  voters." 
If  they  neglected  this  part  of  their  campaign- 
ing there  was  a  probability  that  the  free  and 
patriotic  sovereigns  would  be  heard  cheering 
on  election  day  for  the  opposing  candidates 
who  furnished  the  stimulant. 

Now  all  of  this  is  changed.  The  use  of 
liquor  at  social  gatherings  is  no  longer  deemed 
necessary.  Indeed  its  use  on  such  occasions 
is  condemned  by  all  respectable  people.  Alco- 
holic stimulants  are  no  longer  regarded  as 
needful  accessories  to  good-fellowship.  Neither 
are  they  considered  helpful  in  the  performance 
of  intellectual  or  manual  labor.  On  the  con- 
trary they  have  been  proven  to  be  harmful. 
They  cloud  the  brain,  shatter  the  nerves,  ren- 
der the  muscles  flaccid,  and  weaken  the  will, 
so  that  no  one  of  these  can  perform  its  proper 
work.  This  fact  has  become  so  apparent  that 
railroad  corporations  and  other  large  employ- 
ers of  labor  will  not  keep  a  man  in  their  em- 
ploy who  is  addicted  to  the  use  of  intoxicants ; 
some  roads  going  so  far  as  to  require  entire 
abstinence  on  the  part  of  those  in  their  service. 

The  farmer  has  learned  that  his  harvesting 
will  be  done  as  well,  or  even  better,  without 
the  presence  of  the  little  brown  jug  in  the 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         57 

field  or  the  decanter  on  the  table.  And  public 
sentiment  has  been  so  educated  that  the  mer- 
chant or  tradesman  who  is  known  to  use  liquor 
himself  and  treat  his  customers  is  sure  to  drive 
away  business,  instead  of  gaining  it,  for  the 
better  class  of  customers  lose  confidence  in 
him,  and  his  rating  with  his  creditors  is  sure 
to  fall  below  par.  And  politicians,  too,  have 
grown  wise.  If  they  treat  at  all,  they  do  so 
on  the  sly,  as  they  are  well  aware  that  where 
liquor  gains  them  one  vote  it  may  lose  them 
three.  Besides,  the  law  in  some  of  the  states 
makes  treating  a  fineable  offense,  especially 
when  done  with  the  purpose  of  influencing 
votes.  And  this  wholesome  change  has  been 
brought  about  largely  through  the  labor  of 
Miss  Frances  E.  Willard. 

Frances  Elizabeth  Willard  was  born  at 
Churchville,  New  York,  September  28,  1839. 
While  quite  young  her  family  moved  to  Ober- 
lin,  Ohio,  where  her  father  taught  for  a  few 
years.  In  1846,  the  Willards  moved  to  a  farm 
near  Janesville,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Willard  built 
his  house  in  the  edge  o-f  a  forest  of  oak  and 
hickory  trees  that  grew  on  the  banks  of  the 
beautiful  Rock  river,  with  the  prairie  back  of 
the  grove.  Because  of  its  situation  the  farm 
was  called  "Forest  Home." 


58  The  Women  of  Illinois 

The  family  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
lard,  Frances,  her  sister  Mary  and  brother 
Oliver.  Here  the  children  lived  a  happy,  care- 
free life  for  many  years.  Yet  it  must  be  said 
that  Frances's  happiness  was  clouded  at  times, 
as  she  did  not  like  to  do  housework,  or  sew. 
Perhaps  the  only  sewing  which  she  ever  did, 
without  entering  protest,  was  in  making  a 
flag  for  use  in  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration 
held  in  her  own  backyard.  This  flag  she  made 
by  sewing  red  stripes  and  blue  paper  stars  on 
an  old  pillowcase.  Her  delight  was  to  ramble 
through  the  woods  and  over  the  prairie  with 
her  father  and  hear  him  talk  interestingly 
about  the  various  plants  and  flowers. 

But  while  she  abhorred  housework,  especi- 
ally dishwashing,  she  was  passionately  fond 
of  all  boyish  sports.  Indeed  it  seemed  in  her 
case  that  nature  made  a  mistake  and  embodied 
in  feminine  form  strong  masculine  likes  and 
dislikes.  "When  her  brother  walked  on  stilts, 
she  walked  on  stilts  just  as  high;  when  he 
played  marbles,  she  knelt  on  the  ground  and 
shot  writh  an  accuracy  that  any  boy  might 
well  envy;  when  he  pitched  horseshoes  she 
pitched  horseshoes;  when  he  played  prisoner's 
base,  she  played,  and  there  was  none  more 
fleet-footed;  and  when  it  was  decided  to  take 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         59 

a  few  slides  down  the  haystack,  she  entered 
the  sport  with  vigor."1  And  she  enjoyed 
drowning  out  a  gopher  and  hitting  him  on  the 
head  with  a  shovel,  as  keenly  as  the  boys  did. 
She  justified  herself  to  her  tender  hearted  sis- 
ter by  saying  that  the  gopher  destroyed  their 
corn,  so  they  had  a  right  to  destroy  the  gopher. 

One  of  the  great  sorrows  of  those  early 
days  was  that  her  father  would  not  let  her 
ride  on  horseback  as  her  brother  did.  The 
only  reason  he  gave  for  his  decision  was  "girls 
should  not  ride  as  boys  did."  This  reason  was 
not  satisfactory  to  Frances,  so  she  determined 
that  if  she  could  not  ride  a  horse  she  would 
ride  a  cow,  and  she  began  immediately  to  train 
for  this  purpose  a  cow  which  was  her  own 
property. 

Oliver  disapproved  of  the  plan.  Cows  were 
not  meant  for  riding  purposes  he  said,  their 
part  in  the  economy  of  nature  was  to  give 
milk,  so  he  would  not  help  even  to  the  extent 
of  making  a  halter.  The  hired  man  was  more 
pliable,  however,  and  he  assisted  in  making 
such  articles  as  were  necessary.  In  the  mean- 
time Frances  began  training  "Dime,"  the  cow, 
by  petting  her  and  giving  her  extra  feed,  and 
in  a  short  time  she  would  come  to  her  mistress 


'Bernie  Babcock :   An  Uncrowned  Queen. 


60  The  Women  of  Illinois 

when  called  and  fallow  her  around  as  obedi- 
ently as  a  dog. 

At  first  the  cow  was  trained  to  drawr  a  sled, 
being  equipped  with  the  harness  made  by  the 
hired  man.  It  took  some  time  to  get  her  to 
draw  the  sled,  but  it  was  accomplished  event- 
ually, and  then  began  the  training  for  the  sad- 
dle. The  little  girl  was  so  anxious  to  have  a 
ride  that  she  had  many  a  tumble  before  she 
could  adjust  herself  to  the  awkward  motions 
of  her  "steed,"  but  she  succeeded  in  her  pur- 
pose. When  the  father  heard  of  the  "cow- 
back"  performance,  he  decided  to  let  her  ride 
on  horseback,  that  being  the  less  of  two  evils. 

She  also  trained  "Nig,"  the  black  goat,  who 
became  very  serviceable  on  picnic  occasions  by 
carrying  the  lunch  packed  in  saddlebags  which 
hung  over  his  back  at  a  safe  distance  from 
his  mouth. 

When  her  brother  was  given  a  gun,  she 
asked  for  one  that  she,  too,  might  hunt,  but 
her  father  would  not  grant  the  request,  as  he 
did  not  think  that  hunting  was  a  proper  thing 
for  girls  to  do.  Her  brother  laughed  at  her 
and  said  a  gun  would  be  of  no  service  to  her 
as  she  would  be  afraid  to  fire  it  off;  girls  were 
cowards  anyway.  To  show  him  that  she  was 
not  a  coward  she  walked  around  the  pasture 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         61 

in  front  of  his  double-barreled  gun,  with  the 
barrels  loaded  and  the  hammers  cocked. 

Since  she  could  not  have  a  gun,  she  would 
have  something  with  which  to  shoot,  so  she 
became  an  expert  with  the  bow.  She  had 
either  read  the  story  of  William  Tell,  or  some- 
one had  told  it  to  her,  and  she  determined  to 
emulate  his  skill.  She  told  Mary  to  stand  be- 
side a  post  through  which  was  an  augur  hole. 
Mary's  eyes  came  just  even  with  the  hole 
through  which  Frances  shot  arrow  after  ar- 
row, so  confident  in  her  skill  that  she  never 
once  thought  that  if  she  massed  the  hole 
Mary's  eye  would  be  the  cost.  When  this 
feat  was  related  to  her  mother  she  shuddered 
at  what  might  have  been. 

The  education  of  the  Willard  girls  pro- 
ceeded in  a  desultory  fashion  until  Frances 
was  about  twelve  years  of  age,  when  Mrs. 
Willard  succeeded  in  securing  the  services  of 
Miss  Burdick,  an  accomplished  young  lady 
from  the  East,  who  with  her  relatives  moved 
recently  to  a  farm  not  far  from  Forest  Home. 
Mrs.  Willard's  parlor  was  used  as  a  school- 
room. Here,  seated  around  a  large  table  made 
by  Mr.  Willard  and  fitted  with  shelves  for 
books,  sat  Frances,  Mary,  and  two  neighbor- 
ing little  girls,  all  so  in  love  with  their  teacher 


62  The  Women  of  Illinois 

that  learning  was  a  pleasure,  and  not  a  task. 
Frances  liked  not  only  her  teacher,  but  her 
schoolmates  as  well.  One  of  the  little  strang- 
ers was  so  good  natured  that  nothing  could 
vex  her.  Frances  stepped  on  her  toes  one  day 
hoping  to  make  her  frown  at  least,  but  the 
victim  smiled  sweetly  at  her  which  caused  the 
tormenter  to  feel  ashamed  of  herself  and  to 
stop  tormenting. 

From  her  earliest  schooldays,  composition 
as  an  important  part  of  an  education  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  Frances,  and  at 
an  early  age  she  became  impressed  with  the 
dignity  of  authorship.  With  her  usual  fore- 
sight, she  determined  that  if  she  was  to  write 
she  must  have  privacy,  and  after  considerable 
search  she  found  a  place  well  suited  for  her 
purpose.  Near  the  front  gate  grew  a  tall  oak 
tree,  several  of  whose  branches  were  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  make  a  comfortable  seat.  Close 
to  this  seat  she  fastened  a  box  in  which  to 
keep  writing  materials.  And  to  guard  against 
intrusion  she  painted  a  sign,  reading,  "Be- 
ware of  the  Eagle's  Nest,"  and  nailed  it  to 
the  tree,  believing  that  no  person  thus  warned 
would  disturb  her. 

Her  first  attempt  at  composition  was  in 
the  first  school  she  attended.  She  had  con- 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         63 

siderable  trouble  in  selecting  a  topic,  but  she 
finally  decided  to  write  about  a  favorite  kit- 
ten. It  took  Miss  Burdick,  the  teacher,  some 
time  to  read  this  first  composition,  and  Frances 
herself  was  not  sure  of  some  o<f  the  words. 

During  the  two  years  that  the  children 
were  taught  at  their  home  by  Miss  Burdick, 
Mr.  Willard  and  his  neighbors  were  building 
a  schoolhouse.  The  completion  of  this  school- 
house  marked  an  epoch  in  the  lives  of  the  For- 
est Home  children.  It  was  never  painted 
inside  or  out;  yet,  it  was  a  real  schoolhouse, 
and  as  such  gained  great  distinction  in  the 
neighborhood,  partly,  perhaps,  because  a  live 
man  teacher  from  Oberlin  was  to  preside 
t'here. 

The  girls  were  very  much  excited  at  the 
prospect  of  attending  school  in  a  truly  school- 
house.  Oliver  prophesied  trouble  for  Frances, 
for  he  did  not  believe  that  a  girl  who  played 
Jehu  to  calves,  reapers,  and  plow-beams,  as 
she  did,  would  take  kindly  to  sitting  still  all 
day  and  not  whispering  to>  her  dearest  friend 
even;  so  he  said  he  expected  a  riot — a  rum- 
pus, a  row — -before  the  first  month  was  out. 
To  this  Frances  answered  in  her  loftiest  man- 
ner, "Wait  and  see." 

But   neither  compositions  nor  diary   writ- 


64  The  Women  of  Illinois 

ing  satisfied  the  literary  ambition  of  this  young 
lady.  She  longed  to  be  the  author  of  an  en- 
tire book — something  intensely  stirring  and 
exciting.  So  she  began  a  great  novel,  en- 
titled, "Rupert  Melville  and  His  Comrades; 
a  Story  of  Adventure."  Oliver  declared  there 
were  so  many  characters  in  the  story  that  she 
could  not  possibly  kill  them  off  in  less  than 
a  thousand  pages.  The  story  was  never  fin- 
ished, as  before  she  reached  the  thrilling  cli- 
max which  she  had  planned,  the  young  writer 
decided  to  try  poetry,  which  she  did  with 
marked  success  for  one  so  young. 

Frances  had  a  strong  desire  to  see  some- 
thing from  her  pen  in  print.  So  she  wrote 
an  article  which  she  sent  by  the  hired  man 
to  a  Janesville  paper.  It  was  not  published, 
and  the  editor  in  referring  to  it,  said  he  knew 
it  was  written  by  a  man.  Still  desirous  of 
seeing  her  name  in  print,  she  set  out  one  day 
to  secure  subscribers  for  a  little  paper  which 
promised  to  print  the  names  of  every  boy  and 
girl  who  sent  in  names  of  subscribers.  But, 
alas!  for  human  expectations,  when  her  name 
appeared  it  was  spelled  with  an  "i"  where 
should  be  an  "e";  which  led  her  to  say  that 
the  publishers  seemed  to  think  that  a  girl  could 
not  amount  to  anything  in  the  world  anyway, 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         65 

as  one  claimed  the  article  sent  to  him  was 
written  by  a  man,  and  this  one  writes  the 
name  like  a  boy's. 

It  will  be  evident  to  any  one  who  reads 
these  lines  that  Frances  E.  Willard  was  of  a 
very  independent  turn  of  mind.  He  will  be 
fully  confirmed  in  this  belief  when  he  reads 
of  a  conversation  between  herself  and  her 
father  on  the  day  when  she  w;as  eighteen 
years  of  age.  After  celebrating  the  event  by 
writing  a  poem  in  which  she  gloried  in  her 
freedom,  she  sat  down  to  read  "Ivanhoe,"  a 
book  forbidden  by  her  father. 

Dieep  in  the  pleasure  of  the  story  she 
was  interrupted  by  her  father's  voice,  asking 
sternly,  "What  have  you  there?" 

"One  of  Scott's  novels,"  she  answered. 

"Have  I  not  forbidden  you  to  read  nov- 
els?" 

"You  have;  and  in  the  main  I've  kept  faith 
with  you  in  this;  but  you  forget  what  day  it 
is." 

"What  day,  indeed!  I  should  like  to  know 
if  the  day  has  anything  to  do  with  the  deed!'' 

"Indeed  it  has — I  am  eighteen — I  am  of 
age — I  am  now  to  do  what  /  think  right;  I 
am  to  obey  God's  law  alone;  and  to  read  this 


66  The  Women  of  Illinois 

fine  historical  story  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  right 
thing  for  me  to  do." 

For  a  moment  Mr.  Willard  stood  speech- 
less, almost  doubting  his  own  ears,  then  he 
laughed,  and  calling  Mrs.  Willard,  said,  "She 
is  evidently  a  chip  of  the  Puritan  block;"  and 
to  Frances  he  said,  "Well,  we  will  try  to  learn 
God's  laws  and  obey  them  together,  my  child." 

The  day  that  brought  Frances  freedom  in 
one  way,  brought  her  thraldom  in  another — 
thraldom  to  the  conventionalities.  Her  mother 
insisted  that  she  must  have  her  hair  done  up 
in  woman  fashion  and  to  wear  long  dresses. 
In  describing  her  "martyrdom,"  as  she  terms 
it,  she  says  "My  back  hair  is  twisted  up  like 
a  cork-screw;  I  carry  eighteen  hairpins;  my 
head  aches  miserably ;  my  feet  are  entangled  in 
the  skirt  of  my  hateful  new  gown.  I  can 
never  jump  over  a  fence  again  as  long  as  I 
live.  As  for  chasing  the  sheep,  down  in  the 
shady  pasture,  it's  out  of  the  question,  and  to 
climb  to  my  'Eagle's  nest'  seat  in  the  big  oak 
tree  would  ruin  this  new  frock  beyond  repair. 
Altogether  I  recognize  the  fact  that  my  'oc- 
cupation's gone.' ' 

The  Willard  sisters  having  all  the  education 
they  could  obtain  in  the  district  school,  it  was 
decided  to  send  them  to  the  Milwaukee  Fe- 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         67 

male  College,  in  which  one  of  Mrs.  Willard's 
sisters  was  a  teacher.  Here  they  stayed  one 
year  and  acquitted  themselves  very  creditably. 

At  the  close  of  the  summer  vacation,  Mr. 
Willard  decided  to  send  his  daughters  to  the 
Northwestern  Female  College,  a  new  school 
established  recently  at  Evanston,  Illinois. 
Sadly  they  bade  adieu  to  the  familiar  haunts 
and  objects  at  Forest  Home — never  again  to 
be  their  home. 

With  the  natural  curiosity  of  the  average 
school  girl,  the  students  already  at  the  college 
waited  the  coming  of  the  Wisconsin  girls.  Af- 
ter close  inspection  it  was  decided  that  the  new 
girls  were  entirely  satisfactory  from  an  artis- 
tic standpoint.  Mary,  though  younger  than 
her  sister,  was  taller  and  very  graceful,  but 
no  more  attractive  than  Frances,  whose  bright 
red  hair  had  turned  to  a  golden  brown,  and 
whose  eyes  were  as  bright  as  the  June  sky; 
and  her  shapely  hands  and  feet  were  admired 
by  all. 

The  question  of  appearance  having  been  de- 
cided in  their  favor,  their  ability  as  students 
remained  to  be  tested.  Little  was  said  of 
Mary,  although  she  was  always  a  faithful  and 
thorough  student,  but  Frances's  brilliancy  won 
the  admiration  of  both  students  and  teachers 


68  The  Women  of  Illinois 

from  the  beginning.  "My,  but  can't  the  new 
girl  recite!  She  beats  us  all!"  were  remarks 
heard  at  the  close  of  the  first  day's  recitations. 

Her  companions  soon  discovered  that  while 
Frances  was  kind  and  generous,  she  could  not 
be  imposed  upon  with  safety.  This  fact  she 
impressed  forcefully  upon  her  associates  on  a 
memorable  occasion. 

Mr.  Willard  was  a  good  man  and  a  fond 
father,  but  his  artistic  taste  was  not  very 
highly  developed,  especially  as  to  the  harmo- 
nious blending  of  colors.  Without  consulting 
their  wishes  he  purchased  two  red  yarn  hoods 
for  his  daughters,  with  which  neither  was 
pleased.  The  hood  looked  well  enough  on 
Mary  whose  complexion  was  different  from 
that  of  Frances,  but  on  Frances  it  was  so  out 
of  harmony  with  her  hair,  that  using  her  own 
words,  she  "hated  it  with  a  hatred  and  a  half." 

To  wear  the  hated  head  dress  was  punish- 
ment enough  for  one  of  her  artistic  tempera- 
ment, but  to  be  made  sport  of  for  what  she 
could  not  help  was  more  than  she  could  bear 
with  patience.  So  when  the  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  family  took  especial  pains  to  make  the 
unfortunate  hood  the  target  for  her  ridicule, 
Frances  warned  her  to  stop  doing  so,  but  she 
paid  no  attention  to  the  warning.  Conse- 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         69 

quently,  one  day  when  she  was  especially 
spiteful  in  her  foolishness,  Frances  stepped  up 
and  struck  her  a  blow  that  laid  her  flat  on  the 
floor.  The  ridicule  stopped,  and  the  tormenter 
became  one  of  Frances's  most  ardent  friends. 

The  "wildest  girl"  in  school  was  another  of 
her  friends.  From  the  first  day  of  their  ac- 
quaintance they  were  almost  inseparable.  The 
seventy  rules  of  the  school,  which  Frances  on 
her  entrance  determined  to  keep,  were  soon 
brushed  aside  through  the  influence  of  the  new 
friend.  The  two  soon  gathered  around  them 
a  group  of  kindred  spirits  known  in  the  school 
as  the  "ne'er-do-weels." 

It  will  be  readily  inferred  by  the  reader  that 
Frances  was  not  a  professed  Christian  at  this 
time.  But  while  this  was  true,  it  was  also  true 
that  she  had  too  much  respect  for  sacred  things 
to  be  intentionally  irreverent.  It  could  not 
well  be  otherwise  with  the  training  she  had 
from  childhood. 

At  the  head  of  a  small  company  of  the 
"wild  set"  she  went  to  a  prayer  meeting  which 
was  being  held  one  afternoon  in  the  room  of 
one  of  the  "good  girls."  No  sooner  had  she 
entered  the  room  than  she  was  given  a  bible 
and  asked  to  lead  the  meeting.  Seeing  no  way 
out  of  the  predicament,  she  took  the  bible, 


70  The  Women  of  Illinois 

and  after  reading  a  few  verses,  said  "Let  us 
pray,"  and  every  girl  in  the  room  but  one  of 
her  own  set  knelt.  Seeing  this,  Frances  ex- 
claimed with  great  disapproval,  "Lineburger, 
why  don't  you  kneel  down  and  behave!  If 
you  don't  you're  a  disgrace  to  yourself  and 
the  Lineburger  tribe."  And  not  wishing  to 
disgrace  her  entire  tribe,  Lineburger  knelt. 

One  of  the  books  owned  by  her  special 
friend  at  this  time  was  "Jack  Sheppard."  This 
Frances  read  with  great  relish  and  gained 
from  it  an  inspiration  to  play  pirate.  In  or- 
der to  make  the  play  as  realistic  as  possible 
under  the  circumstances,  they  provided  them- 
selves with  boots,  wooden  pistols,  and  soda 
pop  as  a  substitute  for  liquor.  And  as  pirates 
were  regarded  as  inveterate  smokers,  the  girls 
secured  cigars,  which  they  lighted  and  con- 
verted into  as  much  smoke  as  possible,  think- 
ing the  school  authorities  would  never  be  the 
wiser. 

In  the  midst  of  a  splendid  strutting  scene, 
however,  when  boots  were  much  in,  evidence 
and  soda  pop  handy,  one  of  the  lady  teachers, 
drawn  by  the  scent  of  the  cigar  smoke,  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene  much  to  the  dismay  of 
the  pirates.  They  expected  to  receive  a  severe 
scolding,  but  the  teacher  simply  said  in  a  pleas- 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard        71 

ant  voice,  "Well  if  this  is  not  fortunate.  The 
mosquitoes  have  almost  driven  me  out  of  my 
room  this  hot  night,  and  if  you  girls  will  just 
come  in  and  smoke  them  out  it  will  be  a  great 
favor  to  me/'  The  young  ladies  could  not 
well  do  otherwise  than  to  march  to  the  teach- 
er's room,  where  they  had  the  mortification  of 
sitting  some  time  with  boots  and  cigars.  This 
was  all  the  punishment  they  ever  received,  but 
it  was  enough.  It  caused  piracy  to  go  into  a 
marked  decline,  and  boots  and  cigars  to  dis- 
appear from  the  pirates'  haunts. 

The  strong  attachment  between  Frances 
and  her  fascinating  friend,  the  "wild  girl,"  de- 
cided Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willard  to  move  from 
Forest  Home  to  Evans-ton,  so  the  girls  could 
again  be  under  the  watchful  care  of  their  pa-' 
rents.  The  new  home  was  surrounded  by  ex- 
tensive grounds  which  Mr.  Willard  named 
"Swampscott."  This  was  adorned  with  flow- 
ers and  shrubs  from  the  old  home,  so  that  it 
might  look  all  the  more  homelike  to  the  chil- 
dren. Here  they  lived  together  until  the  chil- 
dren graduated. 

At  this  point  it  becomes  necessary  to  chron- 
icle what,  perhaps,  was  the  greatest  disappoint- 
ment in  the  life  of  Frances  E.  Willard.  She 
was  chosen  valedictorian  of  her  class,  her 


72  The  Women  of  Illinois 

white  graduating  gown  was  ready,  and  the 
young  lady  was  looking  forward  with  high 
hopes  to  the  great  day  on  which  she  should 
wear  it  and  occupy  the  center  of  the  stage, 
the  observed  of  all  observers.  Before  that  day 
arrived,  however,  she  was  taken  sick  and  had 
to  stand  a  long  siege  of  typhoid  fever.  Her 
diploma  was  sent  to  her  by  her  sister  Mary, 
and  there  was  no  valedictory  address. 

With  her  spirit  of  independence,  her  desire 
to  live  a  life  with  a  purpose,  and  her  constant 
longing  to  help  make  the  world  better  and 
happier  it  was  an  impossibility  for  Miss  Wil- 
lard  to  live  an  inactive,  dependent  life.  So 
after  considering  the  matter  for  some  time, 
she  decided,  notwithstanding  her  father's  ob- 
jections, to  be  a  school  teacher.  She  applied 
to  the  County  Superintendent  for  a  position, 
but  it  was  so  late  that  there  was  but  one  school 
without  a  teacher,  and  that  was  a  small  one 
in  an  undesirable  locality.  This  she  accepted 
to  the  great  annoyance  of  her  father  who  be- 
lieved that  women  folks  should  stay  at  home 
with  their  husbands  and  fathers. 

On  arriving  at  the  seat  of  learning  over 
whose  destinies  she  was  to  preside  for  months 
to  come,  she  found  that  the  boys  who  had  al- 
ready assembled  had  been  enjoying  themselves 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         73 

fighting  and  breaking  the  windows.  But  when 
she  called  them  to  order,  they  selected  for  the 
opening  song,  "I  want  to  be  an  Angel,"  and 
sung  it  with  great  heartiness,  if  with  little 
melody. 

After  teaching  country  schools  in  several 
places  until  she  had  proven  her  ability  to  her 
own  satisfaction,  she  obtained  a  position  in 
the  Evanston  schools.  She  was  proud  of  this 
position,  although  it  was  a  difficult  one.  She 
was  known  to  nearly  all  of  the  people  of  the 
town,  many  of  whom  did  not  think  she  would 
succeed  because  of  her  youth  fulness;  and  she 
had  to  demonstrate  her  fitness.  Besides,  some 
of  the  larger  boys  gave  trouble  at  first,  object- 
ing to  being  under  the  control  of  a  young  wo- 
man. But  upon  Miss  Willard  enforcing  dis- 
cipline with  a  stick,  some  of  the  boys  seeing 
her  coming  towards  them  jumped  out  of  the 
window  and  never  returned,  leaving  the  cour- 
ageous young  woman  monarch  of  all  she  sur- 
veyed. 

The  first  great  sorrow  that  entered  into  the 
life  of  Frances  E.  Willard  was  caused  by  the 
death  of  her  sister  Mary.  The  sisters  loved 
each  other  dearly,  and  the  departure  of  the 
younger  one,  gentle  and  lovable  as  she  always 
was,  left  the  older  one  disconsolate  and  bowed 


74  The  Women  of  Illinois 

down  with  grief,  yet  it  had  a  marked  refining 
influence  upon  her  life  and  character. 

After  the  death  of  Mary  the  Willard  family 
were  so  heartbroken  that  in  a  few  weeks  the 
home  was  given  up,  and  Frances  was  elected 
preceptress  in  the  Northwestern  Female  Col- 
lege, where  she  had  been  a  pupil  three  years 
before.  From  this  school  she  went  to  the 
Pittsburg  College,  and  then  to  the  Genesee 
Seminary.  While  here  she  became  acquainted 
with  Miss  Katherine  Jackson,  and  the  ac- 
quaintance had  a  marked  influence  upon  her 
life. 

Miss  Jackson  was  the  only  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  eastern  manufacturer.  Owing  to  the 
fact  that  her  mother  had  died  when  she  was  a 
child  she  spent  much  of  her  time  in  traveling. 
One  day  she  surprised  Frances  by  saying,  "Go 
home  with  me  at  Christmas,  for  I  am  bound 
to  coax  my  father  to  agree  that  we  make  the 
tour  of  Europe." 

Mr.  Willard's  failing  health  stopped  the 
plan  for  awhile,  but  his  sickness  proving  fa- 
tal, the  self-sacrificing  mother  urged  her 
daughter  to  accept  the  generous  offer  of  her 
friend,  while  she  herself  would  visit  Oliver 
who  was  now  married  and  living  on  a  farm  in 
Wisconsin. 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard         75 

The  travelers  visited  all  the  countries  of 
Europe,  staying  several  days  in  each  of  the 
principal  cities.  Frances  was  a  very  careful 
observer  and  a  close  student  of  social  condi- 
tions. Even  at  this  early  day  the  condition  of 
woman  in  the  various  countries  arrested  her 
attention.  Their  hard  lot  had  succeeded  in 
brutalizing  many  of  them,  and  through  them 
was  sure  to  brutalize  their  offspring.  Even  in 
cultured  Berlin  she  saw  women  harnessed  with 
dogs  to  vegetable  wagons,  standing  meekly  in 
the  market  place  waiting  for  their  liege  lord 
to  give  them  the  word  of  command  to  move 
on;  and  he  sometimes  emphasized  his  com- 
mand by  using  his  whip  on  both  woman  and 
dog.  On  witnessing  such  scenes  the  question 
often  arose,  "Why  are  these  things  so?  Why 
is  not  the  man  harnessed  with  the  dog  and  the 
woman  doing  the  driving?"  And  as  yet  she 
could  not  formulate  ar  satisfactory  answer. 

After  "doing"  Europe  our  tourists  visited 
Egypt,  sailed  on  the  Nile,  climbed  the  pyra- 
mids, and  stood  in  the  burial  chamber  of  him 
at  whose  word  arose  the  greatest  of  human 
structures.  Separating  themselves  from  the 
fleas  of  Egypt,  our  friends  sailed  from  Port 
Said  to  Joppa,  and  from  there  went  to  Jeru- 
salem which  they  found  to  be  one  of  the  most 


76  The  Women  of  Illinois 

disagreeable  and  dismal  cities  which  they  had 
seen,  its  streets  being  narrow  and  filthy  and 
its  inhabitants  not  over-clean.  They  visited 
nearly  all  places  of  biblical  interest,  going  as 
far  as  Damascus  where  they  visited  a  slave 
market  in  which  they  saw  women  and  girls 
sold  into  slavery. 

After  spending  a  month  in  Palestine,  Miss 
Willard  and  her  friend  visited  Constantinople 
and  Athens.  Of  the  latter  city  she  speaks  in 
terms  of  high  praise.  Its  wide,  clean  streets 
and  smooth  sidewalks  were  in  strong  contrast 
to  the  narrow,  filthy  streets  of  the  Orient.  And 
the  travelers  found  its  spacious  stores  and 
clean  hotels  very  restful  after  their  experience 
in  the  cramped  bazaars  and  flea-ridden  inns  of 
the  east.  On  their  way  home  they  again  vis- 
ited Paris,  London,  and  Liverpool,  from  which 
place  they  sailed  for  the  United  States  after 
an  absence  of  two  years. 

Shortly  after  returning  home  Miss  Willard 
was  elected  preceptress  in  the  Northwestern 
University.  Up  to  this  time  she  had  given 
the  subject  of  intemperance  no  special  thought, 
but  the  women's  crusade  against  the  saloon, 
which  broke  out  in  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  and 
spread  through  the  state  called  her  attention 
to  the  subject.  And  it  required  only  a  limited 


Frances  Elizabeth  Willard        77 

study  of  the  results  effected  by  the  liquor  traf- 
fic to  convince  her  that  in  it  was  to  be  found 
the  monster  iniquity  of  the  age,  the  breeder 
of  poverty  and  vice,  the  enemy  of  justice,  the 
destroyer  of  homes,  and  the  debaucher  of 
manhood.  As  she  mused  on  these  things,  the 
fires  of  the  desire  to  make  the  world  better 
that  had  long  smouldered  in  her  soul  broke 
into  an  irresistible  flame,  and  the  great,  un- 
tried field  of  a  temperance  reformer  called 
upon  her  to  enter  it.  She  resigned  her  posi- 
tion in  the  university  and  threw  in  her  lot  with 
the  devoted  women  whose  motto  was,  "For 
God  and  Home  and  Native  Land." 

Her  career  as  a  temperance  reformer  is  so 
well  known  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the 
other  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  it 
here.  She  was  not  engaged  in  the  cause  very 
long  until  she  became  satisfied  that  it  was 
handicapped  by  woman's  exclusion  from  the 
ballot  box.  From  this  time  on  she  plead  earn- 
estly for  giving  woman  the  right  to  vote.  And 
as  she  became  satisfied  that  the  only  way  to 
obtain  this  privilege  was  through  politics  she 
threw  her  influence  and  that  of  the  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Unions,  so  far  as  she 
could  control  them,  in  favor  of  the  prohibition 
party. 

Many  friends  of  temperance  regarded  this 


78  The  Women  of  Illinois 

as  a  serious  mistake.  They  believed  that  the 
Unions  should  have  kept  out  of  politics,  and 
that  their  endorsement  of  equal  suffrage  weak- 
ened their  cause.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  true 
that  Miss  Willard  by  voice  and  pen  brought 
temperance  and  equal  suffrage  to  the  attention 
of  men  as  was  done  never  before.  And  it  is 
due  largely  to  her  labors  that  the  attitude  of 
society  towards  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors 
has  changed  so  much,  and  for  the  better,  in 
the  last  quarter  century. 

If  Miss  Willard  had  done  nothing  else  than 
to  inspire  the  women  of  the  country  "to  make 
liquor-selling  and  liquor-drinking  with  conse- 
quent ruin  to  men  and  their  families,  hateful 
and  disreputable  before  the  world,"  she  would 
be  worthy  of  high  praise.  But  in  addition  to 
her  eloquent  advocacy  of  temperance  and  of 
equal  suffrage,  she  became  the  leader  in  this 
country  of  the  "White  Cross  League,"  an  or- 
ganization pledged  to  equal  purity  for  man 
and  woman.  And  only  God  knows  the  effect 
of  this  movement  upon  the  manners  and  mor- 
als of  the  youth  of  the  country.  But  it  is 
given  even  to  us  mortals  to  know  that  its  in- 
fluence has  been  great  and  beneficent. 

Well  may  Illinois  womanhood  be  proud  of 
Frances  Elizabeth  Willard,  who  died  Febru- 
ary 1 8,  1898. 


CHAPTER  SIX 

JANE  ADDAMS 

A  CHICAGO  man  when  asked  to  name  the 
*\  **  greatest  man  in  America,  is  said  to  have 
replied,  "Jane  Addams/'  If  greatness  is  to  be 
measured  b  actual  achievement  for  the  benefit 
o 


tr 


humanity- — and  what  better  test  can  there 
?•'— he  came  very  near  speaking  the  literal 

c^n  point  to  suoT  a  vrecor^'A-oPgoo^'^of^^n^A 
/  as  )thii*|Kip^ 
t.ix'iV^tf  the  age  of  fifty-one.     This  chapter 
which  is  based    on  her    'Twenty    Years    at 
Hali  House."  falls  far  short  of  doing  full  jus- 
ace  to  Miss  Addams  and  her  co-workers. 

jane  Addams  was  born  in  Cedarville,  .Illi- 
nois, September  6,  1860.  Her  mother  dying 
when  she  was  an  infant,  her  father  became 
her  confidant;  to  him  she  revealed  the  thoughts 
and  fancies  of  her  innocent  heart.  She  was 
fortunate  in  her  father  who  was  a  member  of 
the  society  of  Friends,  a  man  of  fine  character 
and  of  high  standing  in  the  community,  as 
was  shown  by  his  election  to  the  state  legisla- 


Woman's  empire,  holier,  more  refined, 
Moulds,  moves,  and  sways  the  fallen  yet  God-breathed 

mind, 
Lifting  the  earth-crushed  heart  to  hope  and  hea 

-' 


CHAPTER  SIX 
JANE:  ADDAMS 

A  CHICAGO  man  when  asked  to  name  the 
•**'  greatest  man  in  America,  is  said  to  have 
replied,  "Jane  Addams."  If  greatness  is  to  be 
measured  by  actual  achievement  for  the  benefit 
of  humanity — and  what  better  test  can  there 
be? — he  came  very  near  speaking  the  literal 
truth.  Few  people,  at  the  close  of  a  long  life, 
can  point  to  such  a  record  of  good  work  done 
as  the  founder  of  Hull  House  can  look  back 
upon  at  the  age  of  fifty-one.  This  chapter 
which  is  based  on  her  "Twenty  Years  at 
Hull  House,"  falls  far  short  of  doing  full  jus- 
tice to  Miss  Addams  and  her  co-workers. 

Jane  Addams  was  born  in  Cedarville,  Illi- 
nois, September  6,  1860.  Her  mother  dying 
when  she  was  an  infant,  her  father  became 
her  confidant ;  to  him  she  revealed  the  thoughts 
and  fancies  of  her  innocent  heart.  She  was 
fortunate  in  her  father  who  was  a  member  of 
the  society  of  Friends,  a  man  of  fine  character 
and  of  high  standing  in  the  community,  as 
was  shown  by  his  election  to  the  state  legisla- 


80  The  Women  of  Illinois 

tnre  in  which  he  served  with  distinction  for 
a  number  of  years. 

When  Jane  was  eight  years  of  age  her 
father  married  again,  but  the  marriage  did  not 
sever  the  confidential  relations  which  existed 
between  father  and  daughter.  All  through  her 
childhood  he  continued  to  be  the  dominating 
influence  in  her  life,  and  to  hold  her  supreme 
affection.  To  have  done  anything  that  she 
thought  would  be  displeasing  to  him  caused 
her  profound  sorrow. 

One  night  on  thinking  over  the  acts  of  the 
day,  she  remembered  that  she  had  told  a  lie. 
The  remembrance  caused  her  to  toss  about  in 
her  bed  in  the  grip  of  a  terrible  fear  that  she 
might  die  before  she  could  tell  her  father  of 
her  sin  and  go  to  a  fiery  hell  which  she  had 
heard  of  from  some  of  her  playfellows,  or 
from  some  foolish  adults.  Or  perhaps  her 
father  might  die  before  morning,  and  then  she 
would  have  no  opportunity  to  confess  her  sin 
to  him  and  be  forgiven.  This  thought  so  in- 
creased her  anguish  that  she  determined  to  go 
downstairs  to  her  father's  room  and  confess 
her  fault.  Her  description  of  the  journey  is 
very  pathetic  and  reveals  the  workings  of  a 
sensitive  child's  mind. 

On  reaching  her  father's  bedside  and  un- 


Jane  Addams  81 

burdening  her  conscience,  she  invariably  re- 
ceived the  same  answer,  "that  if  he  had  a  lit- 
tle girl  who  told  lies,  he  was  glad  that  she  felt 
too  bad  to  go  to  sleep  afterwards."  No  for- 
giveness was  asked  for  or  received,  but  the 
consciousness  that  the  knowledge  of  her  wick- 
edness was  shared  by  her  father  enabled  her 
to  go  back  to  bed  and  sleep  peacefully  the  rest 
of  the  night ;  she  was  comforted. 

It  is  evident  that  in  those  early  years  her 
father  was  her  ideal  of  all  manly  perfection. 
She  was  very  proud  of  him.  She  imagined 
that  strangers  who  visited  the  church  on  Sun- 
day and  saw  him  dressed  in  his  Sunday  frock- 
coat,  teaching  a  bible  class  must  be  filled  with 
admiration  for  such  a  dignified  person.  And 
she  prayed  earnestly  that  the  "ugly,  pigeon- 
toed  little  girl  whose  crooked  back  obliged  her 
to  walk  with  her  head  held  very  much  upon 
one  side  would  never  be  pointed  out  to  these 
strangers  as  the  daughter  of  such  a  fine  look- 
ing man."  (It  seems  that  at  this  time  she  was 
afflicted  with  some  spinal  trouble  which  gave 
her  a  deformed  appearance.)  To  do  what  she 
could  to  protect  her  father  from  such  a  dis- 
grace, she  was  in  the  habit  on  these  Sundays 
to  keep  from  walking  home  by  his  side,  and 
to  walk  by  the  side  of  her  uncle,  so  the  stran- 


82  The  Women  of  Illinois 

gers  might  think  she  was  his  daughter  and  not 
her  father's;  although  one  of  the  chief  joys 
that  the  Sabbath  usually  brought  her  was  to 
walk  to  and  from  church  with  her  hand  in 
that  of  her  father's. 

Mr.  Addams  was  a  miller  by  trade  and  in 
Jane's  girlhood  days  operated  two  mills,  a 
saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill,  but  was  financially 
able  to  employ  men  to  do  the  work.  These 
mills  were  frequented  by  the  children  who 
used  them  as  playhouses.  To  ride  on  a  log 
while  it  slowly  approached  the  buzzing  saw 
which  was  to  rip  it  up,  and  to  get  off  in  time 
to  escape  a  gory  death  was  very  exciting  play ; 
all  the  more  fascinating,  perhaps,  because  of 
the  element  of  danger. 

The  flouring  mill,  however,  had  a  greater 
attraction  for  the  youngsters  than  did  the 
other.  Here  the  farmers  brought  their  wheat 
to  be  ground  and  waited  to  carry  the  flour, 
bran  and  shorts  home  with  them.  To  watch 
the  wheat  go  down  the  hopper  and  come  out 
from  between  the  stones,  flour,  bran  and  shorts 
all  mixed  up  together,  only  to  be  carried  out 
of  sight  in  mysterious  little  buckets,  to  appear 
again  each  by  itself,  led  to  interest  and  won- 
der on  the  part  of  the  young  observers. 

The  bran  room,  especially,  was  a  source  of 


Jane  Addams  83 

delight.  It  rivaled  the  sand  pile  in  the  oppor- 
tunities it  afforded  for  play.  The  little  girl 
spent  many  an  hour  in  the  mill  rubbing  the 
ground  wheat  between  her  thumb  and  fingers 
hoping  that  her  thumb  would  become  flattened 
like  her  father's,  so  the  so-called  "miller's 
thumb"  would  be  another  bond  of  union  be- 
tween them.  So  great  was  her  admiration  for 
her  father  and  so  consuming  was  her  desire  to 
be  like  him  in  as  many  respects  as  possible 
that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  standing  by  the 
mill  stones  when  they  were  being  dressed  in 
order  that  the  hard  particles  should  mark  the 
back  of  her  hands  as  her  father's  were  marked. 
To  her  great  sorrow  this  desire  was  not  re- 
alized. 

An  incident  that  occurred  when  she  was 
seven  years  old  would  seem  to  be  prophetic. 
One  day  as  she  was  walking  with  her  father 
through  the  poorest  part  of  the  neighboring 
city  she  noticed  that  the  houses  were  all  small 
and  that  their  surroundings  denoted  a  degree 
of  squalor  not  to  be  seen  in  the  country,  or  in 
the  village  in  which  she  lived.  She  asked  her 
father  why  people  lived  in  such  miserable  little 
houses  built  so  close  together.  On  receiving 
his  explanation  she  declared  with  much  pos- 
itiveness  that  when  she  was  grown  up  she 


84  The  Women  of  Illinois 

would  have  a  large  house,  but  it  would  not  be 
built  among  the  other  large  houses,  but  right 
in  the  midst  of  horrid  little  houses  like  these. 
Hull  House  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy. 

The  girl,  Jane,  often  thought  along  other 
serious  lines  besides  the  cause  of  the  difference 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor.  Religion  ar- 
rested her  attention.  She  and  her  playmates 
discussed  the  doctrine  of  fore-ordination  with 
great  earnestness.  Her  best  friend  understood 
the  matter  fully,  but  she  could  not  fathom  its 
profound  depths  to  her  own  satisfaction.  As 
with  all  her  troubles  she  submitted  her  theo- 
logical difficulty  to  her  father  and  asked  for 
an  explanation.  He  replied  that  he  feared 
neither  of  them  had  the  kind  of  mind  that 
would  ever  understand  the  subject,  and  that 
it  did  not  matter  much  whether  they  under- 
stood it  or  not,  but  that  it  was  very  important 
not  to  pretend  to  understand  it  when  they  did 
not;  and  that  one  must  be  always  honest  with 
himself  inside,  no  matter  what  happened.  She 
was  greatly  comforted  by  her  father's  admis- 
sion that  their  minds  were  on  an  equality  on 
the  subject. 

Her  religious  bent  manifested  itself  in  other 
ways  than  in  the  discussion  of  fore-ordination. 
She  and  a  brother  built  an  altar  in  a  secluded 


Jane  Addams  85 

spot  by  the  home  stream.  To  this  altar  they 
brought  all  the  snakes  they  killed  on  their  va- 
rious excursions  through  the  fields  and  woods, 
no  matter  how  far  the  distance.  With  the 
snakes  they  placed  on  the  altar  one  out  of  ev- 
ery hundred  black  walnuts  which  they  had 
gathered,  and  then  poured  over  the  whole  a 
pitcher  of  cider.  On  this  sacrificial  altar  they 
sometimes  offered  a  book  or  two,  to  empha- 
size their  renunciation  of  the  vanities  of  the 
world. 

The  same  religious  feeling  led  them,  long 
before  they  began  to  study  Latin,  to  commit 
to  memory  the  Lord's  prayer  in  that  tongue, 
from  an  old  copy  of  the  Vulgate.  This  prayer 
they  repeated  each  night,  believing  it  more  re- 
ligious to  do  so  than  to  repeat  it  in  the  ver- 
nacular. 

Mr.  Addams  was  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
senate  from  1854  to  1870.  Those  sixteen 
years  were,  perhaps,  the  most  important  in  the 
history  of  the  nation;  they  surely  were  the 
most  exciting.  The  discussions  over  the  Fu- 
gitive Slave  Law,  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill, 
the  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates,  the  John  Brown 
Raid,  the  Civil  War,  and  Reconstruction  were 
very  bitter  and  aroused  the  most  profound 
passions  of  men.  And  Mr.  Addams  being  a 


86  The  Women  of  Illinois 

prominent  member  of  the  legislature  through 
all  these  stirring  events,  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  he  would  be  visited  at  his  home  by  men 
prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  state  and  na- 
tion. And  such  a  precocious  child  as  Jane 
would  hear  considerable  of  politics,  and  imag- 
ine more,  in  the  latter  years  of  her  father's 
legislative  career.  Her  father  was  an  ardent 
admirer  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  very  fond  of  him 
in  fact,  and  the  affection  was  reciprocated. 
And  after  the  tragic  death  of  the  President, 
Jane  by  means  of  his  letters  to  her  father,  and 
the  father's  personal  recollections  was  able  to 
create  a  new  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  beloved 
President  lost  no  excellence  by  the  new  cre- 
ation. 

Anything  associated  with  Mr.  Lincoln  ac- 
quired great  sacredness  to  her.  Even  the  war 
eagle,  "Old  Abe,"  because  of  his  name  filled 
a  prominent  place  in  her  thoughts.  Many  a 
time  did  she  look  to  the  north,  hoping  to  see 
him  with  wide  spread  wings  flying  over  the 
fields  of  Illinois,  but  to  her  great  sorrow  he 
did  not  come.  The  sorrow,  however,  was  as- 
suaged a  little  later  when  in  company  with  her 
father  and  other  members  of  the  family  she 
visited  the  capitol  of  Wisconsin  and  saw  the 
king  of  birds  on  his  unworthy  throne,  and 


Jane  Addams  87 

heard  the  marvelous  stories  which  the  keeper 
told  of  his  majesty. 

When  seventeen  years  of  age  Miss  Addams 
entered  Rockford  Seminary,  "The  Mount 
Holyoke  of  the  West."  She  was  ambitious  to 
enter  Smith  College  but  her  father  thought  it 
better  that  she  should  attend  a  good  school 
near  home  and  after  graduating  travel  a  year 
in  Europe,  as  he  believed  that  the  year's  travel 
would  give  the  polish  that  the  eastern  college 
was  supposed  to  give. 

The  description  of  her  four  years  at  the 
seminary  is  well  worth  reading.  It  shows  how 
seriously  the  young  women  entered  upon  their 
academic  career.  They  had  unbounded  ambi- 
tion, a  high  sense  of  their  own  ability,  and  the 
courage  to  attack  and  settle  to  their  own  sat- 
isfaction many  of  the  great  problems  whose 
solution  had  baffled  the  wisest  of  all  ages. 

Of  many  incidents  that  occurred  while  at 
the  seminary,  some  of  which  might  be  termed 
serio-comic,  the  most  serious  one  is  given  here 
in  Miss  Addams's  own  words :  "At  one  time," 
she  tells  us,  "five  of  us  tried  to  understand 
DeQuincey's  marvelous  'dreams'  more  sympa- 
thetically, by  drugging  ourselves  with  opium. 
We  solemnly  consumed  small  white  powders 
at  intervals  during  an  entire  long  holiday,  but 


88  The  Women  of  Illinois 

no  mental  re-orientation  took  place,  and  the 
suspense  and  excitement  did  not  even  permit 
us  to  grow  sleepy.  About  four  o'clock  on  the 
weird  afternoon  the  young  teacher  whom  we 
had  been  obliged  to  take  into  our  confidence, 
grew  alarmed  over  the  whole  performance, 
took  away  our  DeQuincey  and  all  the  remain- 
ing powders,  administered  an  emetic  to  each 
of  the  five  aspirants  for  sympathetic  under- 
standing of  all  human  experience  and  sent  us 
to  our  separate  rooms  with  a  stern  command 
to  appear  at  family  worship  after  supper 
whether  we  were  able  or  not." 

The  missionary  spirit  was  very  strong  in 
the  Seminary,  due  in  part  to  the  desire  to  em- 
ulate Mount  Holyoke.  Miss  Addams  resisted 
all  influence  tending  in  this  direction.  This 
resistance  was  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  her 
father  was  not  a  communicant  of  any  church, 
and  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  little  group  to 
which  she  belonged  was  much  given  to  ration- 
alism, founded  upon  an  earlier  reading  of 
Emerson.  When  Bronson  Alcott  lectured  at 
the  school  this  group  fairly  worshiped  him 
because  he  had  been  a  friend  of  Emerson,  and 
looked  with  scorn  upon  those  of  their  fellow- 
students  who  cared  for  him  because  of  his 
grandfatherly  relation  to  "Little  Women." 


Jane  Addams  89 

During  her  stay  at  the  Seminary  both  teach- 
ers and  students  were  anxious  that  the  insti- 
tution should  become  a  full-fledged  college. 
To  hasten  the  consummation  of  their  burning 
desire,  the  school  applied  for  an  opportunity 
to  compete  in  the  intercollegiate  oratorical 
contest  of  Illinois.  The  application  was 
granted  and  Miss  Addams  was  chosen  to  rep- 
resent Rock  ford.  No  sooner  was  she  elected 
to  this  honorable  position  than  she  was  made 
to  realize  her  many  deficiencies.  She  was  told 
with  brutal  frankness  (as  she  expresses  it)  by 
her  fellow-students  of  her  many  oratorical 
faults  that  would  be  sure  to  lose  woman  the 
first  place  in  the  contest.  Woman  did  lose  the 
first  place  and  came  fifth  in  the  list,  exactly  in 
the  middle,  and  she  heartily  agreed  with  the 
judges.  She  graduated  with  honor  in  1881, 
and  in  August  of  the  same  year  her  father 
died,  when  seemingly  she  needed  his  counsel 
most. 

The  winter  after  leaving  Rockford  she  en- 
tered the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Phila- 
delphia so  as  to  prepare  herself  to  practice 
among  the  poor.  But  the  spinal  difficulty 
which  had  shadowed  her  since  childhood  now 
compelled  her  to  give  up  her  medical  studies. 
She  spent  the  next  two  years  in  Europe,  and 


9°  The  Women  of  Illinois 

before  returning  to  America  she  found  that 
there  were  other  genuine  reasons  for  living 
among  the  poor  besides  that  of  practicing 
medicine. 

While  on  the  continent,  although  drawn  ir- 
resistibly to  the  poorest  quarters  of  the  large 
cities,  she  declares  that  nothing  among  the 
beggars  of  South  Italy,  among  the  salt-miners 
of  Austria,  or  among  the  women  connected 
with  the  breweries  of  Germany  carried  with  it 
the  same  conviction  of  human  wretchedness  as 
was  conveyed  by  a  momentary  glimpse  of  an 
East  London  street. 

'For  two  years  in  the  midst  of  her  distress 
over  the  poverty  which  had  thus  been  suddenly 
driven  into  her  consciousness  there  was  ming- 
led a  sense  of  futility,  of  misdirected  energy, 
the  belief  that  the  pursuit  of  cultivation  would 
not  in  the  end  bring  solace  or  relief.  She 
gradually  reached  a  conviction  that  the  first 
generation  of  college  women  had  taken  their 
learning  too  quickly,  had  departed  too  sud- 
denly from  the  active,  emotional  life  led  by 
their  grandmothers  and  great-grandmothers; 
that  the  contemporary  education  of  young  wo- 
men had  developed  too  exclusively  the  power 
of  acquiring  knowledge  and  of  merely  receiv- 
ing impressions;  that  somewhere  in  the  pro- 


Jane  Addams  91 

cess  of  "being  educated  they  had  lost  that  sim- 
ple and  almost  automatic  response  to  the 
human  appeal,  that  old  healthful  reaction  re- 
sulting in  activity  from  the  mere  presence  of 
suffering  or  of  helplessness;  that  they  are  so 
sheltered  and  pampered  that  they  have  no 
chance  even  to  make  the  great  refusal." 

She  says  that  it  is  difficult  to*  tell  just  when 
the  very  simple  plan  which  afterwards  devel- 
oped into  the  "Settlement"  began  to  form  it- 
self in  her  mind.  It  may  have  been  before  she 
went  to  Europe  for  the  second  time,  but  she 
gradually  became  convinced  that  it  would  be 
a  good  thing  to  rent  a  house  in  a  part  of  the 
city  where  many  primitive  and  actual  needs 
are  found,  in  which  young  women  who  had 
been  given  over  too  exclusively  to  study,  might 
restore  a  balance  of  activity  along  traditional 
lines  and  learn  of  life  from  life  itself;  where 
they  might  try  out  some  of  the  things  they 
had  been  taught.  These  plans  she  made 
known  to  her  traveling  companions  at  Madrid 
in  1888.  The  enthusiasm  with  which  Miss 
Ellen  Gates  Starr,  her  old  time  school  friend 
and  one  of  her  companions,  regarded  the  plan 
strengthened  Miss  Addams  in  her  purpose. 
Shortly  after  making  her  decision  she  again 
visited  London  and  made  a  careful  study  of 


92  The  Women  of  Illinois 

Toynbee  Hall,  located  amidst  the  poverty  and 
squalor  of  the  East  End. 

January  oi  the  next  year  found  herself  and 
Miss  Starr  in  Chicago  searching  for  a  neigh- 
borhood in  which  to  start  the  Settlement. 
They  were  fortunate  in  finding  a  fine  old  man- 
sion which  was  erected  by  Mr.  Charles  J.  Hull 
in  1856.  When  built,  Hull  House  stood  in 
the  suburbs,  but  the  city  had  so  grown  about 
it  that  it  was  far  from  the  suburbs  when  it 
came  into  the  possession  of  Miss  Addams.  Its 
surroundings  were  all  that  this  enthusiastic 
young  woman  desired.  Poverty  and  igno- 
rance, filth  and  vice  pressed  upon  it  on  all 
sides.  The  house  stood  between  an  undertak- 
ing establishment  and  a  saloon.  "Knight, 
Death,  and  the  Devil,"  was  the  description  of 
the  combination  given  by  a  Chicago  wit;  thus 
comparing  the  Settlement  to  a  knight  of  the 
middle  ages  doing  valiant  service  for  the  poor 
and  oppressed. 

There  are  three  well-defined  kinds  of  settle- 
ments, the  Nurses'  Settlements,  the  Social  Set- 
tlements, and  the  University  Settlements.  The 
underlying  ideas  of  all  are  the  same,  viz.,  that 
all  men  are  brothers  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
those  who  are  blessed  with  wealth  or  with  in- 
tellectual ability  to  assist  those  who  are  not 


Jane  Addams  93 

possessed  of  either.  The  greater  their  destitu- 
tion the  stronger  is  their  claim  upon  their 
more  favored  brothers.  The  greater  their 
poverty  and  the  more  profound  their  ignorance 
the  more  need  there  is  of  a  helping  hand.  And 
this  helping  hand  should  be  held  out  to  them 
regardless  of  their  political  belief,  religious 
creed,  or  moral  degradation.  To  be  most  suc- 
cessful this  work  must  not  wear  the  garb  of 
charity  nor  be  actuated  by  a  desire  to  ''convert 
sinners." 

The  purposes  of  the  Settlements,  as  stated 
by  Miss  Addams,  herself,  are  threefold :  "The 
first  contains  the  desire  to  make  the  entire 
social  organism  democratic,  to  extend  democ- 
racy beyond  its  political  expression;  the  sec- 
ond is  the  impulse  to  share  the  race  life,  and 
to  bring  as  much  as  possible  of  social  energy 
and  the  accumulation  of  civilization  to  those 
portions  of  the  race  which  have  little;  the  third 
springs  from  a  certain  renaissance  of  Chris- 
tianity, a  movement  toward  its  early  humani- 
tarian aspects." 

The  settlement  movement  originated  in 
England,  and  to  Arnold  Toynbee,  an  Oxford 
tutor,  belongs  the  credit  of  originating  it. 
This  consecrated  young  man  spent  two  of  his 
long  vacations  among  the  poor  of  East  Lon- 


94  The  Women  of  Illinois 

don.  He  was  deeply  moved  by  the  poverty 
and  squalor  which  were  so  prevalent.  On  his 
return  to  the  university  he  succeeded  in  inter- 
esting other  men  in  the  sufferings  which  he 
witnessed.  And  although  he  did  not  live  to 
see  a  Settlement  of  university  men  established 
among  the  outcasts  of  London,  his  spirit  lived, 
and  moved  some  benevolent  persons  to  build  a 
house  in  one  of  the  poorest  sections  of  the 
city,  which  should  be  occupied  by  university 
men  who  were  to  labor  in  various  ways  to 
raise  the  standard  of  living  in  their  neighbor- 
hood. This  building  has  grown  into  Toynbee 
Hall,  which  is  the  largest  of  forty  such  set- 
tlements in  England  and  has  at  present  over 
twenty  residents,  all  university  men. 

The  principal  Nurse's  Settlement  is  in  New 
York  City.  At  first  the  labors  of  the  Settle- 
ment were  confined  to  nursing  the  poor  and  un- 
fortunate who  otherwise  would  be  neglected. 
Now  it  has  several  small  houses  in  various 
parts  of  the  city  in  which  nurses  and  other 
residents  live,  and  from  which  radiate  light 
and  hope.  New  York  City  has  several  Uni- 
versity Settlements,  also,  each  of  which  is  car- 
rying healing  to  the  socially  sick  and  discour- 
aged. 

Hull  House  is  a  Social  Settlement,  the  great- 


Jane  Addams  95 

est  in  America,  and  possibly  in  the  world.  It 
was  founded  in  1889,  in  one  of  the  poorest 
districts  of  Chicago.  It  is  surrounded  largely 
by  colonies  of  foreigners.  Between  Halstead 
street  and  the  river  live  about  ten  thousand 
Italians.  To  the  south  on  Twelfth  street  are 
many  Germans,  and  the  side  streets  are  given 
over  almost  entirely  to  Polish  and  Russian 
Jews.  South  of  these  Jews  is  a  Bohemian  col- 
ony, so  large  that  Chicago  ranks  as  the  third 
Bohemian  city  in  the  world.  To  the  north- 
west are  many  Canadian  French,  and  to  the 
north  are  Irish  and  first-generation  Americans. 
A  rather  lengthy  quotation  from  "Twenty 
Years  at  Hull  House,"  published  in  1910,  is 
here  given  because  of  its  vivid  description  of 
the  environments  of  the  Settlement:  "The 
streets  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Settlement,"  the 
author  tells  us,  "are  inexpressibly  dirty,  the 
number  of  schools  inadequate,  sanitary  legis- 
lation unen forced,  the  street  lighting  bad,  the 
paving  miserable  and  altogether  lacking  in  the 
alleys  and  smaller  streets,  and  the  stables  foul 
beyond  description.  Hundreds  of  houses  are 
unconnected  with  the  street  sewer.  The  older 
and  richer  inhabitants  seem  anxious  to  move 
away  as  rapidly  as  they  can  afford  it.  They 
make  room  for  newly  arrived  immigrants  who 


96  The  Women  of  Illinois 

are  densely  ignorant  of  civic  duties.  This  sub- 
stitution of  the  older  inhabitants  is  accom- 
plished industrially  also,  in  the  south  and  east 
quarters  of  the  ward.  The  Jews  and  Italians 
do  the  finishing  for  the  great  clothing  manu- 
facturers, formerly  done  by  Americans,  Irjsh 
and  Germans,  who  refused  to  submit  to  the 
extremely  low  prices  to  which  the  'sweating' 
system  has  reduced  their  successors.  As  the 
design  of  the  sweating  system  is  the  elimina- 
tion of  rent  from  the  manufacture  of  clothing, 
the  'outside  work'  is  begun  after  the  clothing 
leaves  the  cutter.  An  unscrupulous  contractor 
regards  no  basement  as  too  dark,  no  stable  loft 
too  foul,  no  rear  shanty  too  provisional,  no 
tenement  room  too  small  for  his  work-room,  as 
the  conditions  imply  low  rental.  Hence  these 
shops  abound  in  the  worst  of  the  foreign  dis- 
tricts where  the  sweater  easily  finds  his  cheap 
basement  and  his  home  finishers."  This  quo- 
tation shows  that  the  location  of  the  Settle- 
ment was  a  desirable  one,  considering  its  pur- 
pose. 

The  Hull  House  Settlement  at  present  con- 
sists of  a  group  of  thirteen  buildings  with 
forty  resident  workers  among  whom  are  law- 
yers, physicians,  business  men,  newspaper 
men,  teachers,  scientists,  artists  and  musicians. 


Jane  Addams  97 

There  is  the  main  house  for  residents,  a  build- 
ing occupied  by  a  Co-operative  Club  of  work- 
ing girls,  and  a  gymnasium  building  with 
baths.  This  building,  with  the  exception  of 
the  one  floor,  is  given  over  to  a  labor  museum 
and  various  industrial  activities,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  is  Miss  Starr's  bookbindery. 
The  underlying  idea  of  the  labor  museum  is 
that  culture  is  an  understanding  of  the  long- 
established  occupation  and  thoughts  of  men, 
of  the  arts  with  which  they  have  solaced  their 
toil.  There  are  spinning  and  weaving  carried 
on  here,  and  they  tend  to  bring  the  American- 
ized daughters  into  closer  sympathy  with  their 
immigrant  mothers  when  they  see  their  beau- 
tiful handiwork.  Pottery-making,  wood- work- 
ings, metal-working,  and  cooking,  especially, 
receive  much  attention.  There  is  a  small  but 
beautiful  theater,  in  which  the  different  na- 
tionalities vie  with  each  other  in  giving  plays 
which  treat  of  the  history  and  literature  of 
the  home  land.  There  is  a  large  restaurant, 
men's  club  room,  a  whole  building  given  over 
to  the  music-school  and  work  with  children, 
and  a  group  of  buildings  with  apartments  and 
lodgings. 

The  Sunday  evening  lectures,  upon  a  great 
variety  of  subjects  are  free.    In  the  auditorium 


The  Women  of  Illinois 

there  are  several  dances  a  week,  and  many 
large  parties  and  meetings.  In  the  Sunday  af- 
ternoon concerts  an  effort  is  made  to  give  the 
best  music  to  the  neighborhood.  There  are  ad- 
vanced classes  in  French  and  German  and  in 
Dante,  with  secondary  classes  in  a  variety  of 
subjects,  including  English,  Geography,  and 
Literature.  A  great  number  of  art  and  tech- 
nical classes,  including  newspaper  illustrations, 
drawing,  painting,  clay-modeling,  carpentry 
and  wood-can-ing,  milliner}-,  and  dressmaking 
are  carried  on  successfully. 

Among  the  clubs,  the  most  important  is  the 
Hull  House  Women's  Club,  numbering  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  members  in  good 
standing.  The  Hull  House  Men's  Club  is  also 
an  important  organization,  and  so  is  the  Dra- 
matic Association  whose  purpose  is  the  produc- 
tion of  plays  by  the  amateur  talent  of  the 
house.  There  are  many  other  clubs  for  young 
people  and  children.  Connected  with  the  house 
is  a  kindergarten,  nursery,  visiting  nurse  and 
visiting  kindergartner,  the  latter  for  sick  or 
crippled  children.  An  agent  of  the  Juvenile 
Court,  who  works  constantly  among  the  de- 
pendent and  delinquent  children  is  in  residence. 
A  number  of  outside  organizations,  including 
the  Chicago  Arts  and  Crafts  Society,  the  Ital- 


Jane  Addams  99 

ian  orchestra,  the  Nineteenth  Ward  Improve- 
ment Association,  and  some  others  meet  regu- 
larly at  Hull  House.  A  number  of  investiga- 
tions are  carried  on  each  year  in  connection 
with  definite  social  reform  movements,  and 
many  conferences  on  public  questions  are  held. 
One  of  the  principal  organizations  at  Hull 
House  during  the  first  decade  of  its  existence 
was  the  Social  Science  club.  Owing  to  the  great 
freedom  with  which  the  members  of  the  club 
expressed  their  views,  the  Settlement  soon  be- 
came known  as  the  center  of  radicalism.  Many 
good  citizens  regarded  it  with  distrust  as  they 
believed  it  to  be  disseminating  anarchistic  doc- 
trines— doctrines  that  were  opposed  to  the  sta- 
bility of  government  and  religion,  the  two  main 
pillars  of  society.  But  Hull  House  was  be- 
tween two  fires  at  times.  For  the  radicals 
looked  upon  it  as  the  friend  of  the  capitalists 
and  upon  its  teachings  as  simply  a  sop  thrown 
to  the  reformers,  whose  interests  it  would  de- 
sert when  the  capitalists  brought  pressure  to 
bear  upon  it.  Miss  Addams  resented  these 
charges  and  declared  that  she  would  not  be 
bullied  by  either  side.  Her  sympathies  at  the 
time,  however,  were  with  the  socialists,  as  she 
regarded  them  as  making  a  gallant  fight  against 
great  odds.  But  they  repudiated  similarity  of 


100          The  Women  of  Illinois 

social  sympathy  and  purposes  as  tests,  and  in- 
sisted that  fellowship  depends  on  identity  of 
creed,  and  to  this  she  could  not  subscribe.  For 
the  residents  at  Hull  House  had  discovered  that 
while  their  first  impact  with  city  poverty  allied 
them  to  groups  given  over  to  discussion  of  so- 
cial theories,  their  sober  efforts  to  heal  neigh- 
borhood ills  allied  them  to  general  public  move- 
ments which  were  without  challenging  creeds. 
Yet  the  residents,  although  often  baffled  by  the 
radicalism  within  the  Social  Science  Club  and 
harassed  by  the  criticism  from  outside,  still  con- 
tinued to  believe  that  such  discussion  should  be 
carried  OIL  For  if  the  Settlement  sought  its 
expression  through  social  activity,  it  must  learn 
the  difference  between  mere  social  unrest  and 
spiritual  impulse. 

Miss  Addams  was  a  member  of  several  arbi- 
tration committees  in  times  of  strikes.  And 
the  reaction  of  strikes  upon  the  Settlement  af- 
fords an  interesting  study  in  social  psychology. 
For  whether  Hull  House  is  in  any  way  identi- 
fied with  the  strike  or  not,  makes  no  difference. 
When  "Labor"  is  in  disgrace  the  Settlement  is 
always  regarded  as  belonging  to  it.  In  the 
public  excitement  following  the  Pullman  strike 
Hull  House  lost  many  friends;  later  the  team- 
sters' strike  caused  another  such  defection,  al- 


Jane  Addams 

though  Miss  Addams's  connection  with  both 
strikes  had  been  solely  that  of  a  duly  appointed 
arbitrator.  But  this  elect  lady  is  a  courageous 
soul,  and  these  things  moved  her  not.  At  least 
they  did  not  change  the  attitude  of  the  Settle- 
ment towards  social,  philanthropic,  or  indus- 
trial questions. 

She  was  instrumental  in  obtaining  free  em- 
ployment bureaus  under  state  control,  as  she 
found  that  unemployment  was  disheartening  to 
the  poor. 

Miss  Addams  was  appointed  by  the  mayor 
garbage  inspector  of  her  own  ward  (the  I9th) 
with  a  salary  of  $1,000.  This  office  was  not  a 
sinecure,  not  at  least  as  she  proposed  to  do  the 
work.  Indeed  she  united  in  her  own  person 
the  duties  of  garbage  inspector,  sanitary  com- 
missioner, and  health  officer.  She  found  it  no 
easy  matter  to  persuade  a  group  of  Greeks  that 
they  must  not  slaughter  sheep  in  the  basement 
of  their  homes,  or  Italian  women  that  they 
must  not  sort  over,  in  courts  swarming  with 
children,  rags  which  they  collected  from  the 
city  dumps,  or  to  hinder  immigrant  bakers  from 
baking  bread  for  their  neighbors  in  unspeak- 
ably filthy  places  under  the  pavement. 

Miss  Addams  is  in  the  prime  of  life,  and 
judging  by  what  she  has  already  done,  we  are 


102          The  Women  of  Illinois 

justified  in  expecting  still  greater  things  from 
her  pen.  At  present  she  is  furnishing  a  series 
of  valuable  articles  for  McClure's  Magazine. 

She  was  a  member  of  the  Chicago  School 
Board  when  that  body  was  passing  through 
stormy  waters;  and  this  paper  will  close  with 
her  tribute  to  the  public  schools :  "The  public 
schools  in  the  immigrant  colonies,"  she  de- 
clares, "deserve  all  the  praise  as  Americanizing 
agencies  which  can  be  bestowed  upon  them/' 


CHAPTER  SEVEN 

MRS.    UDA   BROWN    MCMURRY 

T  IDA  A.  BROWN  is  a  native  of  the  state 
'"  of  New  York,  but  came  to  Illinois  at  an 
earl)-  age.  She  began  her  work  as  a  teacher 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  and  taught  several  years 
in  rural  and  village  schools.  Feeling  the  need 
of  better  preparation  she  entered  the  Illinois 
State  l&m^Ui^ 
uated 


stty 

the  scfiool"  to  meet  in  her  room  one  Sunday  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  a  prayer  meeting  and 
song  service.  Six  accepted  the  invitation. 
They  enjoyed  their  little  devotional  meeting  so 
well  that  they  decided  to  meet  every  Sunday 
and  invite  others  to  meet  with  them.  Thus  was 
started  on  the  twelfth  day  of  November,  1872, 
what  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Students' 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  in  the 
world.  And  it  may  be  worth  while  to  notice, 
in  passing,  that  like  some  other  organizations 


102          The  Women  of  Illinois 

justified  in  expecting  still  greater  things  from 
her  pen.  At  present  she  is  furnishing  a  series 
of  valuable  articles  for  McClure's  Magazine. 

She  was  a  member  of  the  Chicago  School 
Board  when  that  body  was  passing  through 
stormy  waters;  and  this  paper  will  close  with 
her  tribute  to  the  public  schools :  "The  public 
schools  in  the  immigrant  colonies,"  she  de- 
clares, "deserve  all  the  praise  as  Americanizing 
agencies  which  can  be  bestowed  upon  them.'' 


Not  she  urith  traifrous  kiss  her  Saviour  stung, 
Not  she  denied  him  zinth  unholy  tongue; 
She,  while  apostles  shrank,  could  danger  brave, 
Last  at  his  cross,  and  earliest  at  his  grave. 

—Barrett 


CHAPTER  SEVEN 

MRS.    UDA   BROWN    MCMURRY 

T  IDA  A.  BROWN  is  a  native  of  the  state 
•"-^  of  New  York,  but  came  to  Illinois  at  an 
early  age.  She  began  her  work  as  a  teacher 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  and  taught  several  years 
in  rural  and  village  schools.  Feeling  the  need 
of  better  preparation  she  entered  the  Illinois 
State  Normal  University,  from  which  she  grad- 
uated with  honor  in  1874. 

While  in  attendance  at  the  Normal  Univer- 
sity she  invited  a  number  of  young  women  of 
the  school  to  meet  in  her  room  one  Sunday  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  a  prayer  meeting  and 
song  service.  Six  accepted  the  invitation. 
They  enjoyed  their  little  devotional  meeting  so 
well  that  they  decided  to  meet  every  Sunday 
and  invite  others  to  meet  with  them.  Thus  was 
started  on  the  twelfth  day  of  November,  1872, 
what  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Students' 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  in  the 
world.  And  it  may  be  worth  while  to  notice, 
in  passing,  that  like  some  other  organizations 


104          The  Women  of  Illinois 

which  have  done  so  much  for  humanity,  it  had 
its  birth  at  a  seat  of  learning. 

In  view  of  what  the  organization  has  accom- 
plished and  is  accomplishing  it  is  interesting  to 
know  and  of  historic  importance  to  record  the 
names  of  the  consecrated  young  woman  whose 
meeting  on  this  occasion  has  resulted  in  so 
much  good  to  the  world.  The  little  group  con- 
sisted of : 

Lida  A.  Brown 

Ida  E.  Brown 

Emma  Stewart 

Jennie  Leonard 

Hopkins 

Mrs.  Hattie  Lawson. 

Miss  Leonard  and  Mrs,  Lawson  were  not 
students  but  were  very  much  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  the  young  women  of  the  school. 

It  is  but  just  to  state  that  the  Y.W.C.A. 
is  indebted  more  for  its  birth  and  growth 
in  its  early  years  to  Lida  A.  Brown  (now 
Mrs.  Lida  Brown  McMurry)  than  to  any  other 
person.  By  her  quiet,  pleasing  manners,  she 
persuaded  others  to  attend  the  meetings  and 
enroll  in  the  ranks.  She  sympathized  with  them 
in  their  troubles,  cheered  them  in  those  hours  of 
despondency  and  homesickness  which  come  to 
many  young  women  away  from  home  for  the 


Mrs.  Lida  Brown  McMurry     105 

first  time,  and  she  so  "mothered"  them  that 
absence  from  their  own  mothers  was  not  so 
hard  to  bear  as  it  otherwise  would  have  been. 

The  true  Christian  graces  that  enabled 
Mrs.  McMurry  to  accomplish  so  much  in  build- 
ing up  the  Y.W.C.A.,  have  won  her  marked 
success  in  her  life  work.  She  is  today  one  of 
the  leading  trainers  of  primary  teachers.  And 
this  exalted  position  she  owes  fully  as  much  to 
her  sunny,  sympathetic  disposition  as  she  does 
to  her  scholarship,  although  that  is  very  cred- 
itable. She  is  the  author  of  several  books  on 
primary  teaching,  which  teachers  all  over  the 
country  find  very  helpful  in  their  work. 

The  little  company  who  met  on  that  Novem- 
ber afternoon,  1872,  soon  found  their  place  of 
meeting  too  small  to  hold  all  who  wished  to 
attend,  so  they  moved  to  the  parlors  of  the 
Congregational  church,  and  when  that  build- 
ing burned  down,  they  moved  to  the  Methodist 
church. 

The  need  of  a  more  compact  organization 
was  felt,  and  so  a  constitution  was  made,  and 
adopted  January  19,  1873.  The  first  officers 
elected  under  this  constitution  were:  Ida  E. 
Brown,  president ;  Ida  Witbeck,  vice-president ; 
Emma  V.  Stewart,  secretary;  and  Lida  A. 
Brown,  treasurer. 


106          The  Women  of  Illinois 

At  the  time  of  this  election,  the  society  was 
called  the  Young  Ladies'  Christian  Associa- 
tion, and  not  until  September,  1881,  was  the 
name  changed  to  its  present  form,  although  its 
purpose  was  always  the  same. 

The  motto  of  the  association  is  found  in  the 
gospel  by  Saint  John,  10:10:  "I  am  come  that 
they  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might  have 
it  more  abundantly.''  This  seeking  for  a  fuller, 
richer  life  was  the  impelling  force  in  those  early 
days,  and  is  still.  The  young  women  were  very 
earnest  in  their  work  and  the  association  grew 
rapidly.  But  it  is  in  better  shape  now  to  carry 
out  the  purpose  of  its  existence  than  it  was 
before;  as  it  employs  a  graduate  secretary,  a 
very  able  and  devoted  young  woman,  who  gives 
all  her  time  to  the  work. 

The  present  student  Y.W.C.A.  at  Normal 
covers  a  much  broader  scope  in  its  organization 
than  the  association  had  at  first  planned.  It  is 
divided  into  seven  committees,  namely,  the  Fi- 
nance, Membership,  Social,  Inter-collegiate, 
Bible,  Mission,  and  Devotional  committees. 
The  chairmen  of  these  committees  together 
with  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  as- 
sociation comprise  the  cabinet  which  meets 
regularly  once  a  week.  At  these  meetings  the 
best  methods  for  improving  the  society  or  the 


Mrs.  Lida  Brown  McMurry     107 

work  of  any  of  the  committees  are  discussed. 
Nothing  is  undertaken  by  the  society  which  has 
not  been  carefully  discussed  and  approved  of 
in  cabinet  meeting.  The  test  for  the  proposed 
enterprise  is,  "Will  it  give  the  students  more 
abundant  Christian  life." 

At  the  beginning  of  each  year  the  finance 
committee  makes  out  a  budget  which  estimates 
the  receipts  from  probable  gifts,  dues,  special 
sales;  also  the  probable  expenses  of  the  year. 
The  expenditures  of  all  the  committees  is  gov- 
erned by  this  budget.  If  any  committee  spends 
more  than  was  planned,  its  members  make  up 
the  deficiency  by  special  sales.  Forty  percent 
of  the  money  taken  in  each  year  goes  to  the 
state  and  national  organizations.  They  use 
this  money  for  missions  and  current  expenses. 
Thus  the  money  sent  by  the  student  associations 
is  used  partly  for  extending  student  state  and 
national  associations  and  partly  for  general  ex- 
penses such  as  office  expenses  of  the  national 
and  state  associations.  A  separate  fund  is 
raised  each  year  to  send  delegates  to  the  Ge- 
neva conference.  The  work  of  the  following 
year  is  influenced  greatly  by  the  enthusiasm 
aroused  at  these  meetings.  For  this  reason  the 
association  sends  as  large  a  delegation  as  pos- 
sible each  year. 


108          The  Women  of  Illinois 

The  aim  of  the  membership  committee,  of 
which  the  vice-president  is  chairman,  is  to  wel- 
come all  girls  in  the  school  into  the  association, 
and  get  them,  if  possible,  to  become  active 
workers.  Membership  dues  for  the  year  are 
one  dollar  each.  At  present  there  are  185  mem- 
bers enrolled,  all  of  whom  are  active  in  some 
department  of  the  work. 

The  chairmen  of  the  bible  and  mission  com- 
mittees organize  classes  for  study.  Some  of 
these  classes  are  taught  by  members  of  the  fac- 
ulty and  some  by  students  who  have  been  in 
such  classes  before. 

The  devotional  committee  arranges  the  regu- 
lar weekly  meetings  in  detail.  It  is  the  pur- 
pose to  make  these  meetings  profitable  and  in- 
teresting. Twice  a  term  the  Y.W.C.A.  and 
Y.M.C.A.  unite  in  devotional  services  at  which 
some  member  of  the  faculty  presides.  The 
association  gladly  and  earnestly  co-operates 
with  the  churches  in  their  work. 

To  raise  the  social  standard  of  the  school  is 
the  main  purpose  of  the  social  committee.  It 
plans  to  give  a  large  party,  uniting  with  the 
young  men's  association,  at  least  once  a  term. 
Smaller  parties  given  by  the  young  women 
alone  are  arranged  for  once  a  month.  In  these 
social  gatherings,  as  well  as  in  other  phases  of 


Mrs.  Lida  Brown  McMurry     109 

the  association  work,  anything-  which  might 
detract  from  the  Christian  spirit  is  guarded 
against. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  how  the  student 
Y.W.C.A.  movement  has  grown  since  1872. 
According  to  the  report  of  1911,  there  are 
thirty-five  organizations  in  Illinois.  Student 
associations  are  organized  in  forty-three  states 
of  the  Union,  there  being  in  all  six  hundred 
sixty-seven  with  a  membership  of  54,369.  Stu- 
dent Y.W.C.A. 's  are  organized  also  in  the  lead- 
ing countries  of  Europe. 

"Behold,  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire 
kindleth!" — James  3:5. 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

MRS.  LETITIA  GREEN  STEVENSON 

T  ETITIA  BARBOUR  GREEN,  daughter 
•*-'  of  the  Reverend  Lewis  Warner  Green, 
D.D.,  and  Mary  Ann  Peachy  Fry,  was  born  in 
Alleghany  City  amidst  the  beautiful  scenery  of 
Western  Pennsylvania.  She  can  trace  her  an- 
cestry, on  the  father's  side,  to  Colonel  John 
Washington,  wh0owitb^ife«br«9t^^mL^v'irerace^  O 


verv 

.,00\  ii*m4<\m\  ?,t,«mi\\  ,yni\l  /nl  nm«(>V? 

both  ulitar    man  and  as  a  member  of  the 


House  of  Burgesses.  That  he  stood  high  in 
the  esteem  of  his  neighbors  is  also  shown  by 
their  giving  his  name  to  the  parish  in  which 
he  dwelt.  On  his  death,  his  son  Lawrence 
reigned  in  his  stead  and  became  the  father  of 
John,  Augustine,  and  Mildred,  by  his  wife  Mil- 
dred Warner.  From  this  Mildred  Warner 
Washington,  Mrs.  Stevenson  can  trace  her  de- 
scent directly.  Augustine,  the  second  son,  mar- 
ried, for  his  second  wile,  Mary  Ball,  by  whom 
he  had  three  sons  and  a  daughter;  the  eldest  of 


O  woman!  whose  form  and  whose  soul 
Are  the  spell  and  the  light  of  each  path  we  pursue. 

Whether  sunn'd  in  the  tropics  or  chill'd  at  the  pole 
If  woman  be  there,  there  is  happiness  too. 

— Moore 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

MRS.  LETITIA  GREEN  STEVENSON 

T  ETITIA  BARBOUR  GREEN,  daughter 
•"-^  of  the  Reverend  Lewis  Warner  Green, 
D.D.,  and  Mary  Ann  Peachy  Fry,  was  born  in 
Alleghany  City  amidst  the  beautiful  scenery  of 
Western  Pennsylvania.  She  can  trace  her  an- 
cestry, on  the  father's  side,  to  Colonel  John 
Washington,  who  with  his  brother  Lawrence, 
appeared  in  Virginia,  in  1658.  John  became 
very  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  colony, 
both  as  a  military  man  and  as  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses.  That  he  stood  high  in 
the  esteem  of  his  neighbors  is  also  shown  by 
their  giving  his  name  to  the  parish  in  which 
he  dwelt.  On  his  death,  his  son  Lawrence 
reigned  in  his  stead  and  became  the  father  of 
John,  Augustine,  and  Mildred,  by  his  wife  Mil- 
dred Warner.  From  this  Mildred  Warner 
Washington,  Mrs.  Stevenson  can  trace  her  de- 
scent directly.  Augustine,  the  second  son,  mar- 
ried, for  his  second  wife,  Mary  Ball,  by  whom 
he  had  three  sons  and  a  daughter;  the  eldest  of 


112          The  Women  of  Illinois 

these  children  was  the  illustrious  George  Wash- 
ington. 

While  Mrs.  Stevenson's  maternal  ancestors 
were  not  quite  so  famous  as  the  paternal,  yet 
they  were  not  without  distinction.  She  can 
trace  her  descent  from  Colonel  Joshua  Fry,  an 
English  gentleman  and  an  Oxford  graduate, 
who  came  to  Virginia  from  England,  and  be- 
came Professor  in  William  and  Mary  College. 
He  was  colonel  of  a  Virginia  regiment  and 
led  it  against  Fort  Duquesne  in  1755,  but  died 
on  the  march.  After  his  death  the  regiment 
was  commanded  by  George  Washington,  Col- 
onel Fry's  Lieutenant  Colonel. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  subject  of  our 
sketch  came  from  a  fighting  and  patriotic  stock, 
and  that  it  was  natural  that  she  should  join 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  as 
soon  as  it  became  possible  for  her  to  do  so. 

Doctor  Green  moved  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Kentucky  in  1855.  In  this  state,  at  and  near 
Lexington,  Miss  Green  received  most  of  her 
education,  although  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Civil  War,  she  was  attending  Miss  Haynes's 
school  in  New  York  City. 

The  family  residence  at  this  time  was  in 
Danville,  Kentucky,  where  the  father  was 
president  of  Center  College.  Danville  was  on 


Mrs.  Letitia  Green  Stevenson 


the  border  line  between  the  conflicting  forces. 
And  although  he  was  an  ardent  Union  man,  his 
heart  turned  with  fatherly  solicitude  towards 
his  students,  who  were  as  children  to  him,  and 
many  of  whom  were  from  the  South  and  joined 
the  Southern  army. 

The  guerilla  warfare  which  was  carried  on 
in  Kentucky,  as  well  as  in  the  other  border 
states,  placed  the  family  at  the  mercy  of  the 
constantly  changing  bands  of  marauders. 
While  the  possession  of  the  town  by  Federal 
and  Confederate  troops  in  turn  made  conditions 
very  unpleasant  and  inconvenient  for  both 
Union  and  Southern  people.  At  no  time,  how- 
ever, were  the  Greens  greatly  intimidated  or 
harmed.  For  in  the  armies  on  both  sides  were 
some  O'f  their  nearest  of  kin  and  dearest  of 
friends,  under  whose  considerate  protection 
they  dwelt  in  safety. 

As  stated  above  Miss  Green  was  attending 
school  in  New  York  City  at  the  opening  of  the 
war.  On  her  return  home  she  found  the  col- 
lege, as  well  as  every  other  public  building, 
converted  into  barracks  or  hospitals.  And  in 
the  wake  of  the  dreadful  war  soon  followed 
desolation,  sickness  and  death.  She  can  never 
forget  those  terrible  days,  and  is  thankful  to 
an  over-ruling  providence  for  a  re-united  coun- 


114          The  Women  of  Illinois 

try,  and  that  the  ties  of  kinship  and  friendship 
are  the  stronger,  perhaps,  for  having  been  so 
rudely  sundered  for  a  time. 

Miss  Green  came  to  Illinois  in  1864,  and  in 
1866,  was  married  to  Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  a 
rising  young  lawyer  of  Metamora,  Wood  ford 
county,  and  who  since  then  has  acquired  na- 
tional fame,  by  serving  two  terms  in  Congress, 
four  years  as  Assistant  Postmaster  General, 
and  four  years  as  Vice-President. 

In  1868,  the  Stevensons  removed  to  Bloom- 
ington,  which  has  since  been  their  home.  But 
because  of  Mr.  Stevenson's  official  life  in 
Washington,  that  city  became  the  family  resi- 
dence for  several  years. 

The  social  position  of  the  Vice-President  and 
his  family  is  an  enviable  one,  since  it  is  wholly 
independent,  and  disconnected  from  all  others. 
The  Vice-President  is  not  a  member  of  the 
President's  cabinet,  hence  his  wife  is  not  offici- 
ally associated  with  the  ladies  of  the  cabinet, 
although  the  most  cordial  relations  usually  ex- 
ist between  them.  Mrs.  Stevenson's  pleasing 
personality,  her  gracious  manner  and  cultivated 
taste  soon  made  her  a  favorite  with  the  Presi- 
dent's official  family,  and  led  to  the  forming  of 
friendships  which  are  highly  prized  and  whose 
memory  is  sacredly  cherished. 


Mrs.  Letitia  Green  Stevenson    115 

The  wife  of  the  Vice-President  is  required 
by  her  position  to  make  but  one  call,  and  that 
upon  the  mistress  of  the  White  House,  who  is 
not  expected  to  return  calls.  And  it  was  im- 
possible for  Mrs.  Stevenson  to  return  all  calls, 
her  receptions  often  numbering  eight  hundred 
or  a  thousand  callers.  She  took  pleasure,  how- 
ever, in  returning  the  calls  of  the  wives  of  the 
Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  wives  of  the 
Senators,  and  in  acknowledging  all  dinner  and 
luncheon  invitations  by  a  personal  call. 

The  wife  of  the  Vice- President  takes  prece- 
dence when  the  first  lady  of  the  land  is  not 
present ;  and  at  all  functions  in  the  absence  of 
the  President's  wife,  she  leaves  first,  and  her 
leaving  is  a  signal  that  it  is  time  for  the  fes- 
tivities to  end.  At  state  dinners  she  is  always 
the  guest  of  honor,  is  escorted  to  the  dining 
room  by  the  President  and  is  seated  at  his  right. 
Every  courtesy  and  attention  are  accorded  her 
and  her  family  because  of  her  official  position, 
emphasized  in  this  instance  by  the  recognized 
worth  of  the  recipient. 

Mrs.  Stevenson's  life  in  Washington  was 
full  of  charming  experiences,  all  the  more 
charming,  no  doubt,  because  she  was  prepared 
to  appreciate  them.  Every  shade  and  descrip- 
tion of  entertainment  and  pleasure  were  open 


116          The  Women  of  Illinois 

to  her  with  but  little  annoyance  from  any 
source.  Perhaps  the  principal  annoyance  arose 
from  regret  that  the  government  does  not  pro- 
vide official  residence  for  the  Vice-President 
and  members  of  the  cabinet  as  other  govern- 
ments do  for  their  corresponding"  officials. 
Money  spent  in  providing  such  homes,  it  is  be- 
lieved, would  be  money  well  spent,  as  it  would 
make  the  officials  feel  they  were  appreciated 
and  so  render  them  more  efficient. 

Added  honors  bring  increased  responsibili- 
ties. Mrs.  Stevenson  was  elected  President 
General  of  the  National  Society  of  the  Daugh- 
ters of  the  American  Revolution,  for  the  first 
time,  on  February  22,  1893,  to  succeed  Mrs. 
Benjamin  Harrison,  first  President  General  of 
the  organization,  who  died  in  Washington  dur- 
ing the  closing  months  of  her  husband's  term  as 
President.  She  was  re-elected  President  Gen- 
eral in  February,  1894,  for  the  years  1894-95, 
and  for  1896-97,  and  again  for  1897-98.  The 
office  of  Honorary  President  General  was  cre- 
ated in  her  honor  and  conferred  upon  her,  but 
she  resigned  the  complimentary  title  upon  be- 
ing elected  President  General  for  the  third 
time;  it  was  conferred  upon  her  again,  how- 
ever, in  1898. 

The  objects  of  the  National  Society  of  the 


Mrs.  Letitia  Green  Stevenson 


Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  as  set 
forth  in  Article  II  of  the  Society's  Constitu- 
tion, are  : 

1.  "To  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  spirit 
of  the  men  and  women  who  achieved  American 
Independence,  by  the  acquisition  and  protection 
of  historical  spots,  and  the  erection  of  monu- 
ments; by  the  encouragement  of  historical  re- 
search in  relation  to  the  Revolution  and  the 
publication  of  results;  by  the  preservation  of 
documents  and  relics,  and  of  the  records  of  the 
individual  services  of  Revolutionary  Soldiers 
and  patriots,  and  by  the  promotion  of  celebra- 
tions of  all  patriotic  anniversaries. 

2.  "To  carry  out  the  injunction  of  Washing- 
ton in  his  farewell  address  to  the  American 
people,  'to  promote  as  an  object  of  primary  im- 
portance, institutions  for  the  general  diffusion 
of  knowledge/  thus  developing  an  enlightened 
public  opinion,  and  affording  to  young  and  old 
such  advantages  as  shall  develop  in  them  the 
largest  capacity  for  performing  the  duties  of 
American  citizens. 

3.  "To  cherish,  maintain,  and  extend  the  in- 
stitution of  American  freedom,  to  foster  true 
patriotism  and  love  of  country,  and  to  aid  in 
securing  for  mankind  all  the  blessings  of  lib- 
erty." 


118          The  Women  of  Illinois 

Eligibility.  "Any  woman  may  be  eligible  for 
membership  who  is  of  the  age  of  eighteen 
years,  and  who  is  descended  from  a  man  or 
woman  who  with  unfailing  loyalty,  rendered 
material  aid  to  the  cause  of  Independence; 
from  a  recognized  patriot,  a  soldier  or  sailor 
or  civil  officer,  in  one  of  the  several  colonies 
or  states;  provided  that  the  applicant  be  ac- 
ceptable to  the  Society." — Constitution,  Art. 
Ill,  Sec.  i. 

The  business  of  the  National  Society  is  con- 
ducted through  committees  appointed  by  the 
Continental  Congress  or  by  the  President  Gen- 
eral upon  the  authority  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress or  of  the  National  Board  of  Manage- 
ment. "The  Continental  Congress  is  composed 
of  all  the  active  officers  of  the  National  So- 
ciety; the  State  Regent,  or  in  her  absence  the 
State  Vice-Regent,  from  each  state,  territory, 
and  the  District  of  Columbia ;  and  the  Regents 
and  Delegates  of  each  organized  Chapter  in 
the  United  States,  and  in  foreign  countries." 

The  most  important  committee,  from  the 
first,  has  been  the  Memorial  Continental  Hall 
Committee.  Mrs.  Harrison  was  an  enthusiastic 
worker  in  behalf  of  a  house  or  home  for  the 
Daughters,  and  appointed  the  first  Continental 
Hall  committee.  The  next  and  most  important 


Mrs.  Letitia  Green  Stevenson 


step  was  to  endeavor  to  awaken  a  national  in- 
terest in  the  new  and  untried  patriotic  work. 
This  was  difficult  at  first,  as  the  objects  of  the 
organization  were  not  fully  understood,  and 
much  doubt  was  felt  as  to  the  necessity  of  such 
work,  and  of  its  ultimate  success. 

The  work  of  organizing-  Chapters  with  State 
and  Chapter  Regents  was  carried  on  with 
vigor,  and  Chapters  have  been  established  in 
every  state  and  territory  of  the  Union  and  in 
many  foreign  countries.  By  systematic  and 
unceasing  efforts,  at  the  close  of  Mrs.  Steven- 
son's administration  as  President  General,  in 
1898,  the  organization  had  increased  from 
2,760,  in  1893,  to  23,097.  It  was  in  those  early 
formative  days  and  through  efforts  of  the  ac- 
tive officers  of  the  organization,  encouraged 
and  directed  by  Mrs.  Stevenson,  that  the  foun- 
dation was  laid  deep  and  enduring,  upon  which 
the  splendid  superstructure  now  rests. 

Besides  the  Continental  Memorial  Hall 
which  is  now  completed  and  is  worth,  with  the 
lot  on  which  it  stands,  about  $500,000,  the 
Daughters  have  shown  their  zeal  and  ability  in 
other  ways.  They  contributed  about  three- 
fourths  of  its  cost  towards  the  erecting  of  a 
statue  at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  in  honor 
of  Mary  Washington.  On  February  26,  1894, 


120          The  Women  of  Illinois 

they  presented  a  life-size  portrait  of  Mrs.  Ben- 
jamin Harrison  to  the  White  House.  They 
also  presented  a  statue  of  Washington  to  the 
city  of  Paris.  This  statue  was  given  a  promi- 
nent place  by  the  city  authorities  and  was  un- 
veiled during  the  Paris  exposition  of  1900,  with 
due  acknowledgment  to  the  donors. 

On  the  1 5th  day  of  May,  1903,  a  bill  appro- 
priating $10,000  for  the  purchase  of  the  Fort 
Massac  reservation  was  approved  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Illinois,  The  legislature  was  led  to 
make  this  appropriation  largely  through  the 
efforts  of  Mrs.  Matthew  T.  Scott,  President 
General  of  the  Daughters,  who  read  a  very  able 
and  convincing  paper  before  the  Illinois  State 
Historical  Society,  urging  the  purchase,  and 
joined  with  other  high  officers  of  the  organiza- 
tion in  a  petition  to  the  legislature  to  the  same 
effect.  And  later  through  the  same  influence 
the  state  was  induced  to  purchase  Starved 
Rock,  and  about  190  acres  of  the  surrounding 
land  to  be  used  forever  by  the  people  of  the 
state  as  a  pleasure  ground. 

Neither  her  social  duties  as  the  wife  of  the 
Vice-President,  nor  her  official  duties  as  Presi- 
dent General  of  the  great  and  patriotic  organi- 
zation whose  activities  she  directed  for  so  many 
years  could  lead  Mrs.  Stevenson  to  neglect  her 


Mrs.  Letitia  Green  Stevenson     121 

home  duties.  She  is  a  strong  believer  in  the 
value  of  the  home  to  the  individual,  to  the 
family  and  to  the  nation.  A  good  home  she 
regards  as  the  chief  corner-stone  of  the  nation, 
and  a  woman's  first  and  highest  duty  is  to  es- 
tablish such  a  home. 

Home  should  be  a  place  of  great  freedom, 
in  order  to  be  worthy  of  the  sacred  name.  Here 
the  children  should  be  made  to  feel  that  they 
may  do  as  they  please,  providing  they  do  not 
please  to  do  wrong — of  which  there  is  little 
danger.  It  is  only  by  allowing  this  liberty  that 
the  parents  can  learn  the  dispositions  of  their 
children,  something  which  many  parents  do  not 
learn  until  it  is  too  late. 

Home  should  be  a  place  of  mirth  and  merri- 
ment. Blessed  is  the  boy  who  feels  that  home 
is  a  "jolly"  place.  How  the  memory  of  it  will 
cling  to  him  in  after  years,  and  prove  a  talis- 
man against  evil,  long  after  the  "jolly"  father 
and  mother  have  gone  to  their  reward. 

Mrs.  Stevenson  is  also  a  believer  in  early 
marriages,  provided  the  affection  is  founded 
upon  mutual  respect;  and  provided,  further, 
that  man  is  able  to  insure  the  necessary  com- 
forts to  safeguard  the  health  of  his  wife,  and 
to  maintain  a  home  with  all  that  the  name  im- 
plies. But  the  establishing  of  a  home  should 


122          The  Women  of  Illinois 

not  mean  that  the  woman  shall  forever  cook,- 
sweep,  darn  stockings,  sew  on  buttons,  and 
play  general  lady's  maid  to  her  entire  family. 
All  of  this  may  be  necessary  under  certain 
financial  conditions.  But  even  then  by  a  fair 
division  of  labor  much  exhausting  fatigue  may 
be  avoided,  and  decided  benefit  to  all  con- 
cerned result. 

Recreation  and  change  of  scene  for  the 
mother  occasionally  are  essential  to  the  happi- 
ness of  the  whole  family.  That  the  mother's 
health  and  strength  should  be  most  carefully 
conserved  is  imperative,  as  they  are  by  far  the 
greatest  asset  in  the  domestic  economy.  The 
welfare  of  the  household  depends  in  a  large 
measure  upon  her  ability  to  guide  her  family 
and  domestic  affairs  with  prudence  and  fore- 
thought,— a  feat  she  cannot  accomplish  if 
handicapped  by  illness.  This  may  be  superin- 
duced by  overtaxed  nerves  in  the  laudable 
effort  to  meet  the  exacting  duties  of  the  present 
day  strenuous  life.  And  there  can  be  no  judi- 
cious authority,  order,  or  happiness  in  the  home 
where  the  mother  is  a  physical  or  nervous 
wreck. 

If  it  can  be  so  arranged,  and  it  can  usually, 
the  wife  should  be  a  sharer  in  her  husband's 
honors,  as  well  as  be  his  comfort  and  solace  in 


Mrs.  Letitia  Green  Stevenson 


times  of  trial  and  stress.  She  should  also  be 
acquainted  with  his  business  enterprises,  as 
success  or  failure  means  as  much  to  her  as  it 
does  to  him  —  perhaps  more.  And  it  does  not 
safeguard  the  home  for  either  husband  or  wife 
to  have  a  set  of  friends  or  acquaintances  to 
whom  the  other  is  a  stranger.  Separate  inter- 
ests and  separate  trends  of  thought  are  sure  to 
follow,  and  this  is  destructive  of  the  purposes 
of  the  home. 


CHAPTER  NINE 

MARIE  EUGENIA  VON  EISNER* 

•JV/TARIE  EUGENIA  VON  ELSNER  was 
•***•••  born  in  Bloomington,  Illinois,  June  i, 
1856,  and  died  in  the  same  city  July  7,  1883. 
Her  mother,  Amanda  Dimmitt,  also  born  in 
Bloomington,  was  the  daughter  of  William 
Dimmitt,  one  of  the  early  pioneers  in  Illinois, 
and  after  whbi»xDim«)fe-tiw«ad«iiticffls 
ington 

boni 

liUr. 

,  Germany. 

It  is  claimed  by  some  people  that  he  was  of 
noble  birth;  this,  however,  is  not  certainly 
known,  as  he  was  very  reticent  and  never  talked 
about  his  ancestry,  unless  it  was  in  his  own 
family.  What  is  known  is  that  he  was  highly 
educated  and  was  a  civil  engineer.  He  prob- 
ably practiced  that  profession  before  leaving 

*Miss  von  Eisner  was  very  fortunate  in  her  biog- 
rapher. Judge  John  M.  Scott  has  told  the  story  of  her 
life  and  work  in  a  most  sympathetic  and  graceful  man- 
ner. This  brief  sketch  is  indebted  to  his  pleasing  vol- 
ume for  its  main  facts. 


God  sent  his  singers  upon  earth 
With  songs  of  sadness  and  of  mirth, 
That  they  might  touch  the  hearts  of  men, 
And  bring  them  bafk  to  heaven  again. 

— Longfellow 


CHAPTER  NINE 
MARIE:  EUGENIA  VON  ELSNER* 

TV/TARIE  EUGENIA  VON  ELSNER  was 
•*•*-*•  born  in  Bloomington,  Illinois,  June  i, 
1856,  and  died  in  the  same  city  July  7,  1883. 
Her  mother,  Amanda  Dimmitt,  also  born  in 
Bloomington,  was  the  daughter  of  William 
Dimmitt,  one  of  the  early  pioneers  in  Illinois, 
and  after  whom  one  of  the  additions  to  Bloom- 
ington is  named. 

Marie's  father,  Hugo  von  Eisner,  was  born 
near  Goerletz,  not  far  from  Dresden,  Germany. 
It  is  claimed  by  some  people  that  he  was  of 
noble  birth;  this,  however,  is  not  certainly 
known,  as  he  was  very  reticent  and  never  talked 
about  his  ancestry,  unless  it  was  in  his  own 
family.  What  is  known  is  that  he  was  highly 
educated  and  was  a  civil  engineer.  He  prob- 
ably practiced  that  profession  before  leaving 

*Miss  von  Eisner  was  very  fortunate  in  her  biog- 
rapher. Judge  John  M.  Scott  has  told  the  story  of  her 
life  and  work  in  a  most  sympathetic  and  graceful  man- 
ner. This  brief  sketch  is  indebted  to  his  pleasing  vol- 
ume for  its  main  facts. 


126          The  Women  of  Illinois 

his  native  land,  but  if  so  he  could  not  have 
practiced  it  very  long,  as  he  came  to  America 
when  quite  a  young*  man.  After  coming  to 
Illinois  he  assisted  as  engineer,  or  in  some 
other  capacity,  in  the  construction  of  a  rail- 
road from  Elgin  to  Freeport. 

In  1854,  he  came  to  Bloomington  to  make 
for  himself  a  new  home,  and  here  he  lived  un- 
til his  death,  which  occurred  while  his  gifted 
daughter  was  in  Paris,  and  before  she  had 
achieved  her  triumphant  success. 

Von  Eisner  "did  not  possess  much  executive 
ability  and  still  less  capacity  for  money  mak- 
ing in  any  business."  But  he  was  an  excellent 
musician,  well  versed  in  the  science  of  music, 
and  an  enthusiast  in  teaching  the  divine  art. 
It  was  well  that  it  was  so,  for  his  ability  in 
this  direction  was  about  the  only  source  of  in- 
come that  he  had. 

Miss  von  Eisner's  musical  education  began 
when  she  was  a  mere  child.  Her  father  was 
her  teacher  in  those  early  days,  and  continued 
to  be  until  she  sailed  for  Europe  in  1874,  to 
further  her  education.  He  had  unbounded 
faith  in  the  ability  of  his  child,  and  was  confi- 
dent that  she  would  succeed.  So  he  became 
an  enthusiast  in  the  matter  of  her  musical  ed- 
ucation and  he  left  nothing  undone  to  accom- 


Marie  Engenia  von  Eisner        12? 

plish  this  end,  as  far  as  his  limited  means 
would  permit. 

"It  was  a  practice  with  her  father  when  Ma- 
rie was  yet  a  mere  child  to  have  her  sing  in 
parlors  where  friends  had  met  to  hear  her,  and 
in  larger  private  gatherings,  and  she  was  al- 
ways heard  with  the  greatest  delight."  What 
may  be  termed  her  first  public  appearance  was 
at  Springfield,  Illinois,  in  1861,  before  a  regi- 
ment of  soldiers  in  training  to  take  the  field. 
She  was  then  five  years  of  age,  and  her  singing 
of  "  'Tis  the  Last  Rose  of  Summer"  was  so 
touching  that  it  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of 
many  of  those  strong,  hardy  men  whose 
thoughts  had  been  fixed  on  grim  war  for  some 
time  previous.  They  showed  their  apprecia- 
tion of  the  child  and  her  wonderful  singing  by 
making  her  a  beautiful  present,  appropriately 
inscribed. 

When  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  her 
father,  and  perhaps  her  mother,  who  was 
equally  interested  with  her  husband  in  the  de- 
velopment of  their  daughter's  musical  powers, 
took  her  to  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  Newr 
York.  In  each  of  these  cities  her  singing  was 
highly  praised,  especially  in  Cleveland,  where 
there  was  a  large  German  population.  She  re- 


128          The  Women  of  Illinois 

ceived  money  enough  from  her  singing  in  those 
cities  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  trip. 

The  Germans  are  a  music-loving  race,  and 
are  very  appreciative  of  the  manifestation  of 
genius  along  the  line  of  their  beloved  art.  Dr. 
Underner,  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  conserva- 
tory of  music  in  Cleveland,  took  great  interest 
in  Marie,  and  generously  undertook  to  aid  in 
perfecting  her  musical  education. 

The  time  came  when  it  was  deemed  neces- 
sary to  send  her  to  Europe  for  better  instruc- 
tion than  she  could  get  in  her  native  land.  And 
besides,  she  needed  instruction  in  the  languages 
and  in  literature,  so  necessary  on  the  operatic 
stage,  for  which  she  was  evidently  intended. 
But  where  could  the  money  for  defraying  her 
expenses  be  obtained?  Her  parents  were  com- 
paratively poor,  she  had  no  wealthy  relatives, 
and  the  case  seemed  almost  hopeless.  "It  was 
at  first  proposed  to  raise  the  necessary  funds 
by  subscription.  But  the  necessity  for  resort- 
ing to  that  expedient  was  soon  obviated.  In 
that  crisis  a  very  generous  friend,  Mr.  A.  B. 
Hough,  of  Cleveland — a  very  ardent  admirer 
of  the  talents  of  Marie — came  forward,  and 
with  a  liberality  seldom  met  with  anywhere, 
offered  to  and  did  advance  the  entire  amount 
necessary  to  defray  all  her  expenses — a  sum  of 


Marie  Eugenia  von  Eisner        129 

no  inconsiderable  proportions.  No  one  en- 
quired or  seemed  to  know  whether  Mr.  Hough 
exacted  any  promise  from  Marie  or  her  friends 
to  re-pay  the  money  advanced  by  him  on  her 
account.  It  is  not  probable  one  so  generous 
as  Mr.  Hough  would  have  taken  anything  from 
the  earnings  of  this  poor  child  of  genius  had 
she  offered  to  repay  him.  Such  noble  acts  are 
not  done  for  money  considerations. " 

On  the  25th  of  October,  1874,  Marie  sailed 
for  Europe  to  complete  her  musical  education. 
It  must  have  been  a  lonesome  voyage  for  this 
girl  of  eighteen  years.  There  was  no  one  on 
the  ship  that  she  knew,  except  Dr.  Underner, 
who  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  her  welfare. 
This  gentleman  succeeded  in  interesting  Mr. 
Mapleson,  the  great  English  impressario,  in 
his  young  friend,  and  the  interest  continued 
through  life.  Dr.  Underner,  also  presented 
her  to  Sir  Julius  Benedict,  a  musician  of  some 
note,  who,  on  hearing  her  sing,  pronounced  her 
voice  "a  beautiful  gift  of  nature,"  and  advised 
her  to  go  to  Paris  and  place  herself  under  the 
instruction  of  a  celebrated  teacher;  this  she  did. 

In  May,  1876,  she  appeared  at  Drury  Lane 
theater,  in  London,  under  the  management  of 
Mr.  Mapleson.  And  her  performance,  in  Rob- 
ert le  Diable,  was  not  satisfactory  to  her  man- 


130          The  Women  of  Illinois 

ager  or  to  herself;  so  she  returned  to  Paris  for 
further  instruction. 

She  studied  for  a  year,  or  more,  under  her 
former  teacher,  who  could  not  have  taken  more 
interest  in  her  pupil  had  she  been  her  own 
daughter.  And  the  pupil  studied  with  more 
diligence  than  ever,  if  possible,  determined  to 
achieve  success;  not  so  much,  perhaps,  on  her 
own  account,  as  on  account  of  her  father  and 
mother  and  her  family,  her  girlhood  friends  in 
that  little  western  city,  and  her  beloved  teacher. 

When  it  was  arranged  that  she  was  to  ap- 
pear in  the  Theatre  des  Italiens,  in  Paris,  in 
the  opera  Lucia  di  Lammermoor,  she  felt  that 
success  or  failure,  in  her  chosen  profession, 
depended  on  her  performance  on  that  occa- 
sion. She  and  her  teacher  both  felt  that  she 
was  to  pass  through  a  terrible  ordeal,  as  her 
performance  would  be  watched  by  the  most  ac- 
complished musicians  and  the  most  merciless 
critics  in  the  world. 

The  feelings  of  the  French  towards  the  Ger- 
mans were  very  bitter  at  that  time.  The 
Franco-Prussian  war  was  only  a  few  years  in 
the  past,  and  France  felt  that  it  had  been  cruelly 
treated  in  the  terms  of  peace  which  it  had  to 
accept.  And  so  her  solicitous  friends  advised 
her  to  appear  under  the  stage  name  of  "Litta," 


Marie  Eugenia  von  Eisner      131 

that  being  the  name  of  a  noble  Italian  family. 
Her  success  was  so  great,  "that  the  next  morn- 
ing Count  L,itta  called  upon  her  and  thanked 
her  for  honoring  his  family  name  by  adopting 
it."  Henceforth  she  was  known  to  the  musical 
world,  and  even  to  many  of  her  old-time 
friends,  as  Mademoiselle  Litta,  or  simply  Litta. 
The  effect  of  her  rendering  of  the  opera  on 
this,  her  first  appearance  before  a  Paris  audi- 
ence, as  described  by  the  Paris  correspondent 
of  a  New  York  journal  is  here  given  for  the' 
gratification  of  her  friends:  "That  night  will 
remain  in  the  memory  of  everyone  who  was 
present ;  no  greater  triumph  than  that  of  M'lle 
Litta  was  ever  known  even  within  the  time 
honored  walls  of  the  Italian  Theatre  of  Paris. 
Captious  connoisseurs  started  with  amazement 
as  the  purest  soprano  voice  heard  for  many 
years  rang  through  the  building;  callous  ex- 
quisites were  surprised  into  an  emotion  by  the 
warm  life-like  impersonation  of  Bellini's  ill- 
fated  heroine.  From  act  to  act  the  success  of 
the  debutante  increased ;  the  connoisseurs  hung 
upon  her  every  note  and  even  the  least  scien- 
tific of  the  hearers  felt  a  thrill  which  followed 
the  exquisite  modulations  of  that  glorious 
voice.  The  enthusiasm  became  general  and 
swelled  into  an  ovation  such  as  has  not  been 


132          The  Women  of  Illinois 

known  since  the  days  of  Grisi.  There  was  the 
genuine  ring"  and  not  the  counterfeit  sound  of 
a  hired  demonstration.  Cynical  critics  and 
listless  swells  joined  in  the  manifestations  of 
delight;  ladies  clapped  until  they  burst  their 
gloves,  and  threw  their  own  bouquets  upon  the 
stage.  Lifted  above  her  doubts  and  fears  by 
the  enthusiastic  reception  and  inspired  by  her 
theme,  Litta  surpassed  herself  and  surprised 
even  her  friends.  For  perfect  vocalization, 
earnest  feeling,  and  dramatic  power,  her  ren- 
dering of  the  mad  scene,  that  test  of  a  canta- 
trice,  was  a  truly  wonderous  performance. 
Even  the  would-be  witty  critics  who  had  at 
first  endeavored  to  raise  a  laugh  at  her  large 
mouth  and  her  square  shoulders  forgot  to  sneer 
and  lost  sight  of  her  physical  defects  and  sat 
absorbed  and  hushed  throughout  the  thrilling 
scene.  When  the  curtain  fell  the  entire  orches- 
tra rose  to  their  feet  and  the  grand  songstress 
who  had  held  that  audience  under  the  charm 
of  her  talents  was  recalled  with  a  whirlwind 
of  applause.  Such  a  scene  of  enthusiasm  is 
rare  at  the  Italiens  whose  polished  critical 
habitues  are  seldom  raised  to  such  heights  of 
interest  and  delight.  The  smiling,  enraptured 
girl  received  an  ovation  she  will  certainly  re- 
member to  her  dying  day,  and  at  the  close  of 


Marie  Eugenia  von  Eisner       133 

that  performance  found  herself  crowned  a 
queen  of  song.  Her  triumph  was  complete,  al- 
most unparalleled.  *  *  *  The  young  American 
girl,  unknown  and  almost  friendless  the  day 
before,  had  risen  in  that  evening  to  the  utmost 
heights  of  musical  fame." 

One  other  quotation  bearing  on  this  first 
night's  performance,  and  this  from  the  pen  of 
a  woman,  Miss  Kate  Field :  "It  would  seem 
an  exaggeration  almost  to  state  with  what  en- 
thusiasm M'lle  Litta  was  hailed  when  she  fin- 
ally revealed  her  talent.  Even  the  habitues  of 
the  Italian  opera  in  its  halcyon  days  cannot  re- 
member such  scenes  of  excitement.  And  there 
was  the  true  ring  about  the  ovation  M'lle 
raised,  none  of  the  hired  applause  with  the  elite 
smiling  coldly  at  the  venal  demonstration ;  none 
of  the  bouquets  bought  beforehand  and  thrown 
upon  the  stage  by  dummies.  No;  it  was  all 
genuine  admiration.  Ladies  stood  up  in  their 
boxes  and  burst  their  gloves  clapping;  the  en- 
tire orchestra  declared  her  the  young  artist 
with  one  voice.  Elegantes  threw  upon  the 
stage  the  bouquets  they  had  brought  with  them 
and  held  through  the  evening.  Time  after 
time  thundering  calls  brought  the  young  Amer- 
ican lady  before  the  curtain,  blushing  with 
heartfelt  delight.  The  enthusiasm  increased  as 


134          The  Women  of  Illinois 

M'lle  Litta  proceeded  with  her  fine  impersona- 
tion and  the  summum  was  after  the  scene  of 
Lucia's  madness  which  is  famous  as  one  of  the 
most  severe  tests,  not  only  for  the  singer,  but 
for  the  dramatic  artist.  M'lle  Litta  went 
through  the  crushing  ordeal  with  inspired  en- 
ergy and  this  was  her  grand  triumph.  A  very 
whirlwind  of  applause  burst  forth  after  this 
hackneyed  scene  which  the  new  star  rendered 
really  harrowing  by  her  life-like  action.  This 
final  ovation  set  the  seal  upon  her  reputation 
and  stamped  her  as  one  of  the  first  artists  of 
modern  times." 

Litta  remained  at  the  Italiens  for  some 
months.  And  her  great  triumph  on  her  first 
appearance  was  not  dimmed  by  later  perform- 
ances. Night  after  night  music-loving  Paris 
flocked  to  hear  her  in  her  different  roles.  And 
in  no  instance  did  she  fail  to  satisfy  the  high 
expectation  of  her  audience. 

After  the  close  of  the  season  in  Paris  and 
some  time  spent  in  Vienna,  she  returned  to 
America  under  the  management  of  Max  Stra- 
kosch,  a  distinguished  manager  in  opera  and 
concert  music.  She  came  directly  to  Bloom- 
ington  where  her  mother  and  family  still  re- 
sided. Shortly  after  her  return  a  reception 
was  tendered  her  by  Captain  and  Mrs.  Burn- 


Marie  Eugenia  von  Eisner      135 

ham — the  latter  her  cousin — to  which  many  of 
her  friends  were  invited.  It  was  a  happy  gath- 
ering, although  Litta,  no  doubt,  silently 
mourned  the  absence  of  the  father  who  de- 
voted himself  to  her  musical  education,  and 
who  never  wavered  in  his  belief  in  her  success. 

In  order  that  the  friends  and  acquaintances 
of  her  girlhood  days  might  hear  her,  she  gave 
a  concert  in  Durley  Hall.  The  hall  was 
crowded  and  she  sang  divinely,  as  she  felt  she 
had  the  sympathy  of  her  entire  audience.  Per- 
haps she  never  enjoyed  any  of  the  many  ova- 
tions which  she  received  both  in  the  Old  World 
and  the  New  as  much  as  she  did  that  which  she 
received  on  this  occasion. 

At  the  Burnham  reception  it  was  suggested 
to  a  close  friend  of  hers  that  it  would  be  a 
graceful  thing  to  do,  to  present  Litta  with  a 
testimonial  of  their  high  regard  for  her.  The 
friend  intimated  that  Litta  would  appreciate 
any  offering  made  to  her  mother  more  than 
she  would  if  made  to  herself.  In  consequence, 
her  admirers  presented  the  mother  with  a  neat 
cottage;  and  here  Litta  herself  made  her  home 
when  not  engaged  in  traveling. 

Litta  began  her  American  engagements  in 
opera,  in  Chicago,  in  1878.  She  selected  for 
her  first  appearance,  Lucia  di  Lammermoor. 


136          The  Women  of  Illinois 

This  was  her  favorite,  and  the  selection  with 
which  she  always  commenced  her  engagements 
in  the  different  cities  in  which  she  appeared. 
Large  delegations  went  from  Bloomington  and 
Cleveland  to  hear  her.  She  had  many  warm 
friends  in  Cleveland,  and  everyone  in  Bloom- 
ington was  her  friend,  and  all  believed  that 
their  presence  would  be  a  source  of  strength  to 
her,  and  it  was  undoubtedly.  She  was  fond  of 
Bloomington  and  of  its  people,  and  she  gave 
expression  to  this  fondness  in  a  beautiful  letter 
to  a  friend  here,  in  which  she  wrote :  "Bloom- 
ington is  my  home  and  I  am  proud  of  it,  and 
the  many  kindnesses  I  have  received  from  its 
people  have  filled  my  heart  with  gratitude,  and 
I  say  frankly  that  there  is  no  place  like  my  old 
home,  home,  sweet  home." 

Whatever  fears  and  doubts  Litta  may  have 
had  as  she  appeared  before  the  brilliant  audi- 
ence that  came  to  greet  her  and  sit  in  judg- 
ment upon  her  performance,  they  all  disap- 
peared as  she  stepped  in  front  of  the  distin- 
guished assembly.  She  won  a,  splendid  tri- 
umph, and  none  manifested  more  joy  in  her 
success  than  did  her  friendly  rivals  in  song, 
Miss  Cary  and  Miss  Kellogg,  who  graced  the 
occasion  with  their  presence. 

The  papers  of  the  metropolis  of  the  West 


Marie  Eugenia  von  Eisner      137 

were  unanimous  in  their  high  praise  of  both 
her  acting  and  singing.  The  same  was  true  of 
the  papers  of  New  York,  in  fact  of  the  papers 
of  every  city  in  which  she  appeared,  which  led 
her  to  say,  "I  seem  to  have  a  good  friend  in 
every  newspaper  office."  And  so  it  proved  in 
Boston,  in  which  she  appeared  next.  One  of 
the  leading  journals  had  this  to  say :  "The  re- 
ception given  to  the  debutante  was  most  hearty 
and  the  lady  has  no  cause  to  complain  of  her 
audience  upon  this  occasion,  as  every  number 
of  her  role  was  generously  applauded,  recalls 
frequent,  and  beautiful  floral  tributes  were  pre- 
sented to  her.  The  flute  song  in  the  mad  scene 
displayed  Litta's  voice  at  the  best  and  her  ren- 
dering of  this  part  aroused  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  audience  and  a  grand  demonstration." 

The  Strakosch  Opera  Company  appeared  in 
all  the  great  cities  from  Halifax  to  Galveston, 
and  everywhere  Litta  received  unstinted  praise. 
The  cities  of  the  South  vied  in  their  cordiality 
with  those  of  the  North,  and  far-off  San  Fran- 
cisco outdid  them  all  in  the  attention  it  be- 
stowed upon  her.  In  addition  to  unlimited 
praise,  "her  admirers  presented  her  two  elegant 
souvenirs,  which  she  greatly  appreciated.  One 
of  them  was  a  heavy  and  beautifully  wrought 


138          The  Women  of  Illinois 

chain  of  Etruscan  gold  from  which  hung  a 
locket  thickly  crusted  with  diamonds." 

After  two  seasons  in  opera,  Litta  decided  to 
give  it  up,  and  engage  in  concert  work.  She 
had  been  so  successful  in  opera  that  people 
wondered  at  her  decision.  It  is  probable  that 
the  change  was  due  to  the  desire  to  make  a  lit- 
tle more  money.  The  expenses  of  an  operatic 
troupe  were  very  heavy.  It  is  true  that  much 
money  was  taken  in,  but  it  is  also  true  that 
much  was  paid  out,  and  that  the  net  receipts 
were  comparatively  light.  This  may  have  been 
the  reason,  and  it  may  not ;  it  matters  but  little 
either  way;  the  important  thing  is  that  the 
change  was  made. 

Litta's  concert  singing  was  fully  as  success- 
ful as  her  work  in  opera.  She  sang  in  all  the 
leading  cities  and  was  greeted  everywhere  with 
great  enthusiasm. 

One  more  tribute  to  her  worth  by  one  who 
heard  her  sing  at  Saratoga :  "Of  Marie  Litta 
we  can  speak  only  in  terms  of  highest  praise. 
Her  voice  is  a  clear  and  beautiful  soprano,  of 
exquisite  quality,  that  even  her  pianissimo 
passages  were  distinctly  heard  throughout  the 
large  hall,  and  her  tones  have  that  indescribable 
pathetic  power  which  is  vouchsafed  to  but  few 
singers  in  a  generation.  She  is  a  genuine  art- 


Marie  Eugenia  von  Eisner       139 

ist  with  a  natural  genius  for  moving  her  audi- 
tors by  the  tones  of  her  voice  and  uses  that 
marvelous  organ  with  the  most  consummate 
grace  and  skill.  Of  the  two  numbers  assigned 
to  her  on  the  program,  the  'Carnival  of  Ven- 
ice,' by  Sir  Julius  Benedict,  which  abounds  in 
ornament  and  fioritura,  was  rendered  with  a 
power  and  grace  which  brought  forth  round 
after  round  of  applause.  She  responded  to  the 
demands  of  the  audience  by  singing  a  stanza 
of  'Home  Sweet  Home,'  in  a  manner  which 
showed  how  genius  could  adorn  even  the  most 
familiar  air,  and  was  greeted  with  the  same 
universal  plaudits." 

After  her  return  to  America,  Litta's  career 
was  brilliant  but  of  short  duration — about  four 
years.  That  short  period  was  one  of  great 
physical  exertion  and  of  intense  mental  strain. 
She  was  ambitious  to  accomplish  a  great  work, 
and  to  enable  her  to  do  that  she  undertook 
more  than  either  her  physical  or  mental 
strength  would  endure  with  impunity.  Her 
friends,  finally,  came  to  see  that  her  health  was 
failing,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  they  did 
not  compel  her  to  rest  for  a  time.  The  public, 
with  whom  she  was  a  favorite,  was  uninten- 
tionally unjust  to  her.  The  following  quota- 
tion from  her  biographer  might  well  be  taken 


140          The  Women  of  Illinois 

to  heart  by  music-loving  audiences  everywhere : 
"The  demand  made  upon  her  by  encores  to 
sing  more — in  many  instances  double  the  num- 
bers she  had  agreed  to  give  by  her  program, 
was  sometimes  oppressive  in  a  very  great  de- 
gree. Her  generous  nature  would  not  allow 
her  to  deny  her  patrons  anything  whether  just 
or  unjust.  The  consequence  was  she  felt  con- 
strained to  sing  many  times  when  she  really  did 
not  have  strength  to  go  through  with  the  ad- 
vertised program.  This  constant  demand  made 
upon  her  by  the  public  wherever  she  went,  soon 
began  to  tell  on  her  strength. 

«*  *  *  T he  demand  made  by  the  public  upon 
famous  singers  for  so  much  more  than  they 
contracted  to  give  or  the  public  has  paid  for, 
is  unjust  in  the  extreme.  No  lawyer  is  ex- 
pected to  try  two  cases  for  his  client  for  the 
same  fee  he  agreed  to  try  one.  A  lecturer, 
when  he  has  agreed  to  give  one  lecture,  is  not 
expected  to  give  another  lecture,  or  even  the 
same  one  without  additional  compensation. 
Encores  are  all  right  enough,  but  the  singer 
ought  to  be  allowed  the  privilege  to  sing  or  not. 
Demands  for  a  repetition  of  every  number  is 
in  ill  taste." 

In  the  spring  of  1883,  Litta  suffered  a  se- 
vere attack,  at  Galesburg,  from  which  she 


Marie  Eugenia  von  Eisner       141 

never  fully  recovered.  She  rallied  somewhat, 
however,  and  resumed  her  work.  At  Des- 
Moines,  Iowa,  she  was  again  prostrated  by 
sickness,  and  was  urged  by  her  friends  to  rest 
for  awhile.  But  no,  she  kept  on,  as  she  did 
not  want  her  manager  to  lose  money  by  her 
failure  to  keep  her  contract  with  him.  The  last 
concert  given  by  her  company  in  which  she 
took  part  was  at  Escanaba,  Michigan.  From 
there  she  was  taken  to  her  home  in  Blooming- 
ton,  where  she  fell  asleep,  and  awaked  to  sing 
in  the  celestial  choir. 

Loving  hands  laid  her  to  rest  in  the  Bloom- 
ington  cemetery,  and  above  her  grave  was 
erected  a  granite  monument  by  the  people  of 
the  city  that  she  loved  so  well. 

The  following  tribute  by  her  biographer 
must  close  this  brief  sketch:  "Litta  had  her- 
self been  poor  during  her  whole  life  and  that 
caused  her  to  have  the  intensest  sympathy  with 
the  lowly.  The  brightest  gem  in  her  crown 
will  be  her  nobleness  of  soul.  It  is  that  which 
will  remain  when  all  else  connected  with  her 
fame  shall  have  perished  and  is  forgotten.  She 
was  gentle,  she  was  kind,  and  she  loved  all  that 
is  good  and  all  that  is  good  loved  her.  She 
lived  to  do  good  unto  others.  It  was  her 
crowning  happiness  to  divide  everything  she 


142          The  Women  of  Illinois 

had  with  others,  giving  always  the  largest 
share  and  the  best  to  them.  Nothing  gave  her 
so  much  pleasure  as  to  do  good  to  others.  In 
that  work  akin  to  the  purest  ministrations  in 
charity  she  literally  sacrified  her  life — a  life 
that  contained  all  that  is  best  in  human  nature. 
She  did  not  have  to  learn  to  be  good  or  to  do 
good.  It  was  inwrought  in  her  nature." 


CHAPTER 

WOMEN   01 

oday  are  sometimes  com- 

.:on  of  early  times,  and 

ntage  of  the  former. 

The  conditions  are 

gti  impossible  to 

Were  tlie  woman 

f  > .  i  vt«  iltnmwft  * 

01  t:-  M 

envn  ^ia' 

i^AuAmi 

sofwe'o^^  a  present. 

.liecoridi- 

ie  piayed  her 

.  aiul  she 

en  in 

l:e  Lord/''  as 

far    a  and    she 

the  char- 
acter of  her  occasion  de- 
ed  it   she  t            .                 c  or  rifle  as 
effect                                           >nor  t-~»  i'.er.     And 

•  is  see  the  heroic 


142          The  Women  of  Illinois 

had  with  others,  giving  always  the  largest 
share  and  the  best  to  them.  Nothing  gave  her 
so  much  pleasure  as  to  do  good  to  others.  In 
that  work  akin  to  the  purest  ministrations  in 
charity  she  literally  sacrified  her  life — a  life 
that  contained  all  that  is  best  in  human  nature. 
She  did  not  have  to  learn  to  be  good  or  to  do 
good.  It  was  inwrought  in  her  nature." 


A  woman's  life  is  .1  wonderful  thing 

A  yearning,  hungering,  questioning, 

Outreaching-  t  ward  the  Infinite! 

Wearing  her  womanhood  like  a  crown,  yet  holding 

Her  pilgrim  staff  fif  duty. 

— The  Ladies'  Repository 


CHAPTER  TEN 

THE   WOMEN   OF  TODAY 

THE  women  of  today  are  sometimes  com- 
pared with  the  women  of  early  times,  and 
frequently  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  former. 
This  is  not  just  to  either.  The  conditions  are 
so  different  that  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to 
institute  a  just  comparison.  Were  the  woman 
of  the  early  days  placed  in  the  midst  of  the 
environments  which  surround  her  sister  of  to- 
day, she  would  feel  lost.  And  it  is  feared 
that  she  would  receive  severe  criticism  from 
some  of  those  who  sing  her  praises  at  present. 
The  pioneer  woman  was  fitted  for  the  condi- 
tions under  which  she  lived.  She  played  her 
part  in  the  development  of  Illinois,  and  she 
played  it  well.  She  "trained  her  children  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  L,ord,"  as 
far  as  her  ability  would  permit,  and  she 
smoothed  down  the  rough  corners  in  the  char- 
acter of  her  husband,  and  when  occasion  de- 
manded it  she  could  use  the  ax  or  rifle  as 
effectively  as  he  could ;  all  honor  to  her.  And 
long  may  the  people  of  Illinois  see  the  heroic 


144          The  Women  of  Illinois 

figure  of  the  pioneer  woman  as  she  stands  re- 
vealed in  the  early  history  of  the  state.  Times 
have  changed,  however,  and  existing  conditions 
make  other  and  different  demands  upon  wo- 
man. The  woman  of  today  meets  those  de- 
mands as  courageously  and  efficiently  as  did 
her  sister  of  pioneer  days  those  that  con- 
fronted her. 

The  writer  is  frequently  asked  foolish  ques- 
tions, and  one  of  the  most  foolish  is,  "Do  you 
think  woman  is  the  equal  of  man?"  Being  a 
truthful  man  he  has  to  answer,  "It  depends  on 
the  man  and  on  the  woman.  Some  women  are 
superior  to  some  men,  and  it  is  possible  that 
some  men  are  superior  to  some  women,  but  ta- 
ken in  the  aggregate,  woman  is  superior  in  all 
that  pertains  to  the  higher  life."  Then  comes 
the  etymological  argument:  "Does  not  hus- 
band," the  querist  retorts,  "mean  housebond, 
the  one  who  holds  the  house,  or  home,  to- 
gether? If  so,  then,  he  must  be  the  superior 
one."  "Perhaps  'husband'  means  that  and  per- 
haps it  does  not.  Even  if  it  does,  does  not  the 
term  housekeeper  indicate  that  the  wife  plays 
as  important  a  part  in  the  domestic  economy  as 
does  the  husband?  The  truth  is  that  without 
the  presence  of  woman  there  can  be  no  home. 
There  can  be  a  place  where  men  assemble  to 


The  Women  of  Today          145 

eat  and  sleep,  but  it  is  not  a  home,  and  the  men 
feel  that  it  is  not;  and  in  her  absence  they  be- 
come slovenly  in  appearance  and  boorish  in 
manners."  This  truthful  statement  is  not  what 
the  questioner  expected,  or  hoped  to  get,  so  he 
departs  with  a  low  opinion  of  the  writer's 
wisdom. 

Women  constitute  a  great  majority  of  the 
school  teachers  of  the  state  of  Illinois.  There 
is  no  intention  here  of  discussing  the  relative 
merits  of  men  and  women  as  teachers;  no 
doubt  each  sex  has  advantages  over  the  other 
in  certain  departments  of  teaching.  All  that  is 
meant  here  is  the  bare  statement  of  a  fact 
which  is  known  to  all  who  have  given  the  sub- 
ject serious  thought.  And  that  the  women  do 
their  work  well  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
the  highest  salary  paid  to  any  teacher  in  the 
state  is  paid  to  a  woman. 

When  we  consider  the  influence  of  the 
teacher  in  the  community  in  which  she  labors, 
and  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  state  through  the 
children  with  whom  she  labors,  we  recognize 
the  above  statement  as  an  important  one.  As 
there  is  no  class  of  people  whose  influence  upon 
the  children  is  so  great  as  that  of  the  teachers, 
the  parents  always  excepted — or  nearly  always. 
It  is  reasonable  that  this  should  be  so,  as  they 


146          The  Women  of  Illinois 

are  with  them  six  hours  a  day  for  at  least  six 
months  in  the  year.  If  the  teacher  is  qualified 
intellectually  and  morally  to  have  charge  of 
children,  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  import- 
ance of  her  work  to  the  state. 

There  is  a  class  of  teachers  who  receive  no 
salary,  in  the  form  of  dollars  and  cents  from 
any  source  whatever,  and  yet  their  service  to 
the  state  is  inestimable.  For  the  lack  of  a  bet- 
ter name  they  may  be  termed  "supplementary" 
teachers ;  and  to  their  ranks  belong  all  mothers. 

These  supplementary  teachers  are  very  nec- 
essary, as,  unfortunately,  there  are  some  per- 
sons employed  to  teach  who  are  not  teachers 
at  all.  They  have  no  true  conception  of  the 
office  of  a  teacher;  they  are  interrogation 
marks  whose  sole  function  is  to  ask  questions. 
Question-asking  is  well  enough  and  when 
properly  done  is  an  important  phase  of  teach- 
ing, but  not  the  most  important;  that  is  done 
by  the  mother,  who  when  her  day's  work  is 
done  sits  down  by  her  children  and  leads  them 
to  see  for  themselves  the  logical  solution  of  the 
problem,  the  proper  interpretation  of  the  para- 
graph in  the  reading  lesson,  and  the  true  rela- 
tion of  the  different  parts  of  the  sentence  to 
each  other.  This  she  does  with  infinite  pa- 


The  Women  of  Today          147 

tience,  and  her  patience  has  its  reward  in  the 
love  and  adoration  of  her  children. 

The  woman  of  the  present  time  does  much 
valuable  work  along  educational  lines  by  or- 
ganizing and  sustaining  literary  and  musical 
clubs.  These  clubs  permit  women  to  enter  the 
realms  whose  portals  were  closed  against  them 
in  their  younger  days.  And  although  the 
glimpses  which  some  get  in  those  Elysian  fields 
may  be  limited  to  small  areas,  and  somewhat 
shadowy,  yet  they  get  enough  to  promote 
thought  and  to  lighten  the  burden  of  their 
daily  toil ;  and  whatever  makes  the  tasks  of  the 
toiler  less  galling  is  a  benefaction  to  the  race. 

In  no  field  of  activity,  perhaps,  does  the  wo- 
man of  the  twentieth  century  appear  to  such 
advantage  as  in  the  godlike  one  of  charity.  It 
is  true  that  all  through  the  Christian  centuries 
woman  has  been  a  synonym  for  charity.  Good- 
ness and  mercy  have  followed  in  her  footsteps, 
and  suffering  has  been  mitigated  by  her  pres- 
ence. But  in  these  later  years  she  has  learned 
to  make  her  efforts  more  effective  by  system- 
atic organization,  and  has  learned  to  discrim- 
inate between  the  worthy  and  the  unworthy. 

In  every  city  and  town  of  any  considerable 
size,  there  is  organized  a  Board  of  Charities 
which  receives  gifts  from  the  charitably  dis- 


148          The  Women  of  Illinois 

posed  and  dispenses  them  to  the  deserving 
poor.  These  boards  seek  to  find  employment 
for  those  who  are  able  to  work,  as  it  is  be- 
lieved that  by  this  means  the  self-respect  of  the 
beneficiaries  is  preserved;  and  self-respect  is  a 
valuable  asset  in  the  struggle  of  life.  Those 
who  are  not  able  to  work  are  aided  as  fully  as 
the  means  of  the  organization  will  permit.  And 
while  there  are  a  few  men  connected  with  these 
organizations,  it  will  be  admitted  by  all  who 
have  studied  the  matter  that  the  women  are  the 
moving  spirits,  the  main  prop  and  support  of 
the  boards,  and  that  without  them  the  institu- 
tions would  languish,  if  not  die. 

Closely  related  to  her  work  in  dispensing 
charity  to  the  poor  are  her  merciful  ministra- 
tions as  nurse  in  hospitals,  and  elsewhere.  The 
desire  to  alleviate  suffering  of  every  kind,  to 
wipe  away  the  tears  from  the  eyes  of  the  grief- 
stricken,  and  to  cheer  the  despondent  is  pre- 
eminently an  endowment  of  woman.  The 
hospital  is  where  she  appears  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage, as  that  is  where  there  is  most  phys- 
ical pain,  and  her  mission  is  to  remove  pain. 
It  is  a  question  with  many,  "Who  saves  the 
most  lives,  the  nurse  or  the  physicians?" 
Quien  sabef 

The  pioneer  woman  was  probably  just  as 


The  Women  of  Today          149 

sympathetic,  just  as  eager  to  relieve  suffering, 
and  just  as  willing  to  sacrifice  herself  for  the 
good  of  others  as  is  her  modern  sister.  She 
did  what  she  could  under  the  then  existing 
conditions.  But  science  has  made  great  pro- 
gress in  the  last  hundred  years,  and  in  no  re- 
spect greater,  perhaps,  than  in  its  warfare  with 
disease ;  so  that  the  nurse  of  today  is  able  to 
use  means  that  were  unknown  to  the  nurse  of 
pioneer  days,  and  is,  therefore,  more  efficient. 
The  woman  of  the  present  is  a  firm  believer 
in  the  duty  of  the  people  to  make  beautiful 
their  surroundings,  as  far  as  possible.  She 
has  studied  the  influence  of  environment  upon 
character  and  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  is  fully  as  great  as  that  of  heredity,  if  not 
greater.  She  may  not  believe  with  Zoroaster 
that  the  ugly  is  always  bad,  and  the  beautiful 
always  good.  But  she  does  believe  that  beauty 
without  has  a  strong  tendency  to  promote 
beauty  within.  Therefore  she  is  an  ardent  ad- 
vocate of  improvement  leagues  in  cities  and 
•towns.  She  does  not  believe  that  the  only 
times  people  should  clean  up  their  premises  is 
when  they  hear  that  the  cholera  is  making  rapid 
strides  from  the  East;  but  that  they  should 
keep  them  clean  at  all  times.  Furthermore, 
that  shrubbery  and  flowers  should  gladden  the 


150          The  Women  of  Illinois 

hearts  of  the  passers-by  as  well  as  those  of  the 
occupants.  The  result  of  her  efforts  along 
this  line  may  be  seen  in  many  towns  and  vil- 
lages. And  many  rural  communities  follow 
the  example  of  their  urban  neighbors.  Indeed 
no  small  part  of  her  work  is  the  awakening  of 
such  communities  to  the  possibilities  within 
their  reach.  She  points  out  how  the  school- 
house  and  the  country  church  may  be  made 
centers  for  disseminating  the  gospel  of  beauty 
to  the  farm  homes  in  the  vicinity,  thus  enab- 
ling the  wife  and  mother,  whose  life  is  fre- 
quently one  of  drudgery,  to  catch  glimpses  of 
brighter  things,  the  thoughts  of  which  may 
bring  warmth  to  her  heart  and  a  song  to  her 
lips. 

Woman  is  also  a  promoter  of  civic  righteous- 
ness. It  is  true  she  cannot  vote,  but  her  influ- 
ence over  those  who  can  is  very  great.  The 
home  is  the  chief  corner  stone  of  the  nation, 
and  the  woman  is  mistress  of  the  home.  There 
her  influence  is  paramount,  especially  over  her 
sons,  and  there  are  but  few  husbands  who  will 
vote  contrary  to  the  expressed  wishes  of  their 
wives.  And  the  wives  are  studying  civic  af- 
fairs more  than  ever  before.  Some  periodicals 
find  their  way  even  into  the  most  isolated 
homes.  Many  of  those  periodicals  are  ably 


The  Women  of  Today          151 

edited  by  women  who  point  out  to  their  sisters 
what  they  can  do  to  purify  civic  affairs,  and 
what  it  is  their  duty  to  do.  And  that  the  sis- 
ters are  following  their  advice  is  evident  from 
the  great  changes  that  are  taking  place  in  the 
social  and  political  life  of  the  people. 

It  is  unfortunately  true  that  more  or  less 
corruption  still  exists;  but  it  is  also  true  that 
it  is  becoming  less  and  less  from  year  to  year. 
And  whenever  it  is  discovered  it  is  not  con- 
doned, even  by  fairly  good  people,  as  in  the 
past,  but  is  punished  both  legally  and  socially. 
It  should  always  be  remembered  that  woman  is 
the  arbiter  of  social  status  and  that  some  men 
dread  being  sent  to  "Coventry"  more  than  they 
do  being  sent  to  the  penitentiary;  hence  the 
great  power  which  the  woman  wields  in  the 
community ;  and  it  must  truthfully  be  said  that 
she  is  using  it  for  the  betterment  of  the  people. 

The  woman  of  today  is  interesting  herself 
not  only  in  literary,  social,  and  political  affairs, 
she  is  also  giving  much  attention  to  the  laws  of 
health.  She  is  satisfied  that  there  are  certain 
conditions  and  diseases  of  her  sex  which  she 
can  understand  better  than  man  can,  and  for 
whose  removal  she  is  better  qualified.  So  to 
prepare  herself  the  better  to  be  an  angel  of 
healing  to  her  afflicted  sisters  she  has  gradu- 


152          The  Women  of  Illinois 

ated  in  medicine  from  some  of  the  best  univer- 
sities in  the  land,  and  has  sometimes  studied  in 
the  schools  and  hospitals  of  the  Old  World, 
hoping  thereby  to  be  the  better  equipped  to 
contend  with  the  messenger  of  death. 

Woman  has  always  been  a  zealous  supporter 
of  religion  and  of  the  church.  This  was  true 
of  the  pioneer  woman;  it  is  true  of  the  woman 
of  today.  She  has  always  been  more  religious 
than  man;  because  she  is  possessed  of  the  at- 
tributes of  God  in  a  larger  measure.  She  is 
more  like  God  in  her  tenderness,  her  sympathy, 
and  in  her  desire  to  do  good  to  those  who  need 
it  most.  She  believes  that  religion  is  for  the 
purpose  of  making  man  more  god-like  in  pur- 
ity, compassion,  and  helpfulness  to  others, 
hence  she  favors  religion.  And  the  church  be- 
ing the  main  instrument  in  urging  people  to 
be  religious  she  supports  it  by  her  presence  at 
all  of  its  meetings  and  by  her  generous  finan- 
cial aid. 

She  realizes  that  religion  is  the  most  import- 
ant thing  in  the  world.  It  has  been  said  that 
love  is  the  greatest  thing.  But  love  is  the  es- 
sence of  religion — love  to  God  and  love  to 
man.  Without  this  divine  attribute  religion 
becomes  a  hollow  mockery ;  with  it,  it  becomes 
a  regenerating  force  leading  man  to  be  born 


The  Women  of  Today          153 

again  in  the  image  of  God.  This  is  woman's 
religion.  For  this  she  prays,  for  this  she 
works,  and  for  this  she  is  willing  to  suffer  un- 
kind criticism,  which  is  often  bestowed  upon 
her  by  the  thoughtless  and  foolish.  The  pity 
of  it. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


?HE  WOMEN  OF  ILLINOIS  BLOOMINGTON 


